The Cat's Pyjamas
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Harry,6, transforms into a cat and friends Animagus Minerva. Together with Poppy, Remus, Severus etc, she takes him away from Dumbledore and his meddlings, to Kentucky. AU, OOC, mentioning abuse!Dursleys, adoption/name!change. Magically handicapped!Harry
1. I and Pangur Ban my Cat

**The Cat's Pyjamas**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
__The translation of the Pangur Ban poem is from an unknown author (chapter titles)._

_A huge thanks to JB5391 for her absolute brilliant beta-ing!_

_&*%  
_

_**Warnings**: Mentioning abuse!Dursleys, completely AU, partly OOC, adoption&name change, plays not at Hogwarts but in the USA, magically handicapped Harry_

_#+$  
_

_This story is dedicated to my wonderful friend and beta Mushcorn - Happy birthday, Musha :-)_

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**1 - I & Pangur Ban my Cat**

It was a bright Saturday morning at the beginning of June, and Minerva McGonagall let out a long sigh as she made herself as comfortable as possible on the stone wall next to the Dursleys' garden. Ever since Albus Dumbledore had placed Harry Potter on the Dursleys' doorstep, had Minerva spent her weekends on the wall, in her Animagus form of course.

From the time when Harry had been three years old, Minerva had observed him spend the days doing chores. Sometimes, when the Dursleys left their house for several hours, Harry used to come to where she was sitting on the wall and pet her. He always spoke to her in a quiet voice, and Minerva often regretted that she was not able to communicate with him.

She also knew that the Dursleys did not treat the child overly well, but at least they seemed to not harm him, and Albus Dumbledore insisted that he had to remain with his relatives for safety reasons.

Minerva glanced through the kitchen window and watched six-year-old Harry clean the kitchen, before his aunt sent him out into the garden. Through the open kitchen door, she heard how Petunia Dursley informed the boy that she and her husband and son would leave for the town and only return in the evening.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry replied obediently and began to do his garden work.

'_How can she leave such a small child alone the whole day and make him work in the garden in this heat?_' Minerva thought angrily, noticing that Harry took small pauses to wipe the sweat from his face every now and then.

猫のパジャマ

'_I'm thirsty_,' Harry thought and slowly approached the kitchen door, only to notice that his aunt had apparently forgotten about him and had locked the door. He sighed in exasperation, before a small smile began to play on his lips upon seeing the tabby cat on the wall. '_Oh right; it's Saturday_,' he thought happily. The cat was his best, no, his only friend, and he felt always happy when she came to visit him. Somehow, he knew that she came because of him.

"Hello Pussy," he said and carefully petted her under her chin, knowing from experience that she liked to be petted there most.

The cat purred contentedly, before she let out a series of meows. "I'm sorry, Pussy," Harry said sadly. "I can't understand you." When the cat looked at him and meowed again, he thought in desperation, '_She is the only living being that willingly speaks with me. I want to understand her_.'

Before Harry knew what happened and how it had happened, he felt a sharp pain run through his entire body, and all of a sudden, his sight had expanded greatly, but at the same time, he was closer to the ground than before.

=My, you're a wonderful little kitten,= the older cat's gentle voice penetrated his ears, causing Harry to look at himself in surprise.

'_Orange and white fur, and lots of it; I am a cat_,' he realised in disbelief. =I'm sorry; I didn't mean to,= he stammered, noticing in confusion that the other cat smiled at him.

=What did you not mean to do, sweetie?= she asked kindly.

=To do freaky things,= Harry replied in a barely audible voice. =My uncle always tells me, but sometimes I can't help it,= he added sadly, averting his eyes to the floor.

=Harry, that's all right,= the old cat said in a soft voice. =You're not a freak; you are a wizard, and every wizard does magic every now and then. That is completely normal,= she explained, unaware of the fact that for little Harry not everything was as normal as it was for other wizards and witches.

Harry spent several hours talking with the other cat, before he remembered, =I need to do my chores, before the Dursleys come back. But how can I do them if I'm a cat?=

The older cat chuckled as she told him, =Since you became a cat by wishing to be one, you should think that you want to be back to your human form.=

Harry nodded gratefully, wishing himself back into the form of a small boy. However, all his efforts remained in vain. After thirty minutes of intense trying, he was still a cat. =It doesn't work,= he said, lying down on the wall in exhaustion.

猫のパジャマ

Minerva eyed the smaller cat in concern. '_He must either be a natural Animagus or possess a very strong wish magic_,' she mused. '_Maybe he depleted his magic by his earlier transformation that was indeed spectacular_.'

=Well, I'm going to help you,= she said gently, =but you must not tell anyone that I am human, too.=

=I won't,= Harry promised, observing in disbelief how the cat jumped from the wall and in the shadow of the garage changed into an old woman, dressed in a dark green, long one-piece. Instants later, he was back in his human form, noticing gratefully that it hurt less than the earlier transformation.

"It was nice to be able to speak with you, and I'm very proud of you, Harry. You did the transformation really well," Minerva told Harry. "I'll be back tomorrow." With that she changed back into her cat form and resumed her spot on the wall.

猫のパジャマ

When Minerva returned on Sunday morning, there was no sign of Harry, nor did she see him on Monday and Tuesday, when she returned to the spot on her wall in concern what might have happened to the little boy. Only on Wednesday, he was cleaning the kitchen window, when she showed up.

During the following few weekends, Harry spent every few minute keeping Minerva company in his cat form. Minerva told him about Hogwarts, magic, and even about his parents, whom she had known well. Sometimes, Harry unobtrusively followed her when she left the Dursleys' garden, observing how she strode around two corners, transformed into her human form and completely vanished from the sight.

猫のパジャマ

One day, Harry was very desperate. Usually, he tried hard to suppress his magic, because otherwise, he would have to fear his uncle's wrath. However, sometimes he happened to fail, ending up in a huge outburst of magic, which usually caused his whole body to become very sore and hot for a few days, and in spite of the fact that he felt miserable from the after-effects of his outburst, his uncle used to punish him.

On the day before, he had to paint the brown garden fence white, although it was raining cats and dogs. Unfortunately, the rain washed the colour off the fence, so that Harry had to re-do his work over and over again. After painting the fence for the third time, Harry glared at the fence and it turned into a bright neon green colour that turned out to be resistant against the rain. His uncle gave him the belt, which he used to do in such cases, and in addition to feeling miserable from his outburst of magic, Harry now had a very sore backside.

=May I come with you?= he asked the older cat, giving her a pleading look.

The older Animagus let out a long sigh. =I am really sorry, sweetie. I'd love to take you with me and raise you myself, and I have often enough spoken with the Headmaster about the matter. However, he insists that you have to remain here with your relatives,= Minerva explained in a soft voice, sadly looking at the smaller cat. '_I'll tell Albus about this. Maybe I'll manage to convince him at some stage_,' she resolved as she took her leave and swiftly made her way to her usual apparition point.

Unbeknownst to the older cat, Harry followed her in his Animagus form. Knowing that she used to vanish from the spot an instant after pulling the strange stick out of her robe pocket that she called her wand, Harry waited until she pulled it, before he jumped, attaching his claws to the dark green fibre just before Minerva apparated away. He felt the world spin around, and by the time the fast movement stopped, he felt utterly nauseous.

"Harry," the elder woman blurted out in disbelief at his sight. "What are you doing here? I told you that I can't take you with me." Seeing that he remained unresponsively on the ground, she bowed down to him and carefully picked him from the floor. "Are you feeling all right, sweetie?" she asked kindly, gently petting his fur.

Harry let out a miserable meow. If he had felt awful before, the strange way of travel had not helped his condition. Fortunately, this did not go unnoticed by the professor, who was feverishly pondering if she should take him back home or take him with her to Hogwarts. '_His paws are very warm_,' she noticed and decided to ask her best friend, Poppy, to check on the child.

"Harry, I'm going to take you with me to Hogwarts for the time being, although I'm afraid that you'll have to return to your relatives' home later today," she said soothingly and swiftly carried the small cat to the castle.

猫のパジャマ

"Minnie, what brings you here?" Madam Pomfrey asked in surprise, knowing that her friend hardly ever willingly entered her domain and she usually had to visit the professor for tea in her quarters.

Minerva glared at her friend, before she moved her arm, revealing the small cat that was nestled deep into her robes. "Harry followed me, but I think he is not really well. Anyway, I'd like you to take a look at him. I think he is a bit too small for his age and very skinny." Turning to Harry, who had blearily opened his emerald green eyes, she said soothingly, "Harry, I'm going to put you onto the bed here and transform you back into your human form."

Instants later, the small boy was lying on the bed right next to Madam Pomfrey's office. '_This is so soft, feels good_,' he thought, closing his eyes again upon noticing that the bright sunrays that flooded the hospital wing aggravated his headache even more.

Minerva and her friend exchanged a concerned look, taking in the beads of sweat on the boy's forehead and his deeply flushed cheeks. The Mediwitch waved her wand over the boy, casting a complicated diagnostic spell that caused a long parchment to emerge from the tip of her wand. Minerva eagerly looked over her shoulder to study the parchment.

_20 % under size_  
_30 % under weight_  
_Magica Incensio_  
_Fever 39.0 degrees_  
_Headache 2nd degree_  
_Bruises on 20 % of body_  
_Welts on 20 % of body_  
_1 broken rib_  
_1 broken finger bone_

"Poppy..." Minerva spoke up in shock, noticing that her usually calm friend, who could not easily be shaken, was wearing a grave expression.

"Minerva, how do these people treat him?" the Healer asked in disbelief.

"I had no idea that it was so bad," Minerva replied, paling visibly. "Harry never complained. What exactly is wrong with him?"

"What is not wrong?" Pomfrey scoffed. "Apart from the fact that he is clearly abused and neglected, Magica Incensio is a very rare but unfortunately incurable illness, caused by restrictions on a child's magic." Ignoring Minerva's terrified expression, she continued, "Harry will probably have problems to cast spells at school, and if he does magic that turns out too strong, he will become sick and only be able to do magic again a few days later. This will be a problem at Hogwarts. We need to inform Albus about this."

"No," Minerva protested quickly, "at least not yet. He doesn't know that I brought Harry here."

Poppy waved her wand over the child to heal his bruises and welts, noticing that the boy's lips stretched to a small smile as the pain from his back vanished. "Does that feel better, sweetie?" she asked kindly, realising from the lack of speed, in which he opened his eyes, that the still had to be in quite an amount of pain. She fetched two small phials and instructed Harry, "Let me help you to sit up for a moment. You need to take these potions for your headache and the fever. You'll feel better soon."

Harry's eyes wandered from the Mediwitch to Minerva in silent question. "It's all right, Harry. Do as Madam Pomfrey says," Minerva reassured the boy, gently taking his small, warm hand into her own.

Harry obeyed, realising in surprise that he felt much better. He hesitantly answered a few questions for the kind witch, who had been so kind and given him medicine. '_She probably doesn't know that I'm not allowed medicine_,' Harry mused. '_She is very nice_.'

"No adult has the right to hurt a child, sweetie; will you tell me who did this to you, so I can see to it that the person will be punished?" Pomfrey asked straight away.

Harry quickly shook his head, shocked at the thought that anyone would tell his uncle that he had spoken about it and even received medicine.

"Harry," Madam Pomfrey's voice brought him back to reality as she said in a soft voice, "we'll speak with the Headmaster and ask him if we may keep you here at Hogwarts. Would you like to stay here with Professor McGonagall?"

'_That's the cat lady_,' Harry thought as he absentmindedly nodded. '_I really like her, and both of them are very nice, much nicer than Aunt Petunia_.'

"You must not do any magic for the time being. You're still running a slight temperature and need to take it easy," the Mediwitch continued to speak. "I will give you more potions tomorrow morning."

"Yes Madame; thank you," Harry replied, looking anxiously at Minerva.

"Now Harry, do you feel well enough to accompany us to the Headmaster's office?" Minerva asked softly. "Or do you want me to call him here?"

"No," Harry replied quickly and scrambled out of the bed, looking up in surprise when Minerva pointed her wand at him.

"No Minerva," the other witch said, holding her hand out to stop her friend. "Don't transfigure his clothes into robes; let Albus see what rags they gave him to wear. I will accompany you."

"All right," Minerva agreed and pocketed her wand, before she gently led Harry out of the huge, bright room.

Harry looked in amazement at the paintings along the corridors. '_The people in the paintings move_,' he thought in awe. '_That's absolutely cool_.' Soon they stopped in front of a gargoyle, and Minerva mumbled something that caused the gargoyle to open and let Minerva, Poppy and him through to a moving staircase. '_That's magic_,' Harry thought, feeling absolutely delighted. '_I want to stay here. I don't want to return home_,' he resolved, eyeing the old wizard with the long, white beard with anxiousness.

"Hello Minerva, Poppy," the Headmaster greeted his colleagues, turning to Harry. "And who are you my boy?" he asked gently, causing his colleagues to roll their eyes as he queried the obvious.

"My uncle calls me boy, my aunt freak, Professor Monagall Harry, and Madam Pomfrey sweetie," Harry replied in a small voice, shyly averting his eyes to the floor.

"Albus," Minerva threw in, sounding very angry. "Harry has been abused and neglected by his relatives. You can't send him back there."

As to confirm her friend's statements, the Mediwitch placed a copy of the parchment with the results of her earlier scan of Harry in front of the Headmaster. The old wizard let out a long sigh as he skimmed the parchment, offering Harry a lemon drop when he was done.

"I am very sorry, my boy," he said in a grave voice, "however, it is important that you remain with your relatives. Your..."

"Albus!" Minerva threw in angrily. "You can't send him back there."

The Headmaster eyed his deputy from over the edges of his half-moon spectacles. "I can and I will, Minerva," he said firmly. "Either you can take him back now or I will." He turned to the pile of parchments on his desk, clearly dismissing the small group.

By the time Minerva, Poppy, and Harry reached the entrance hall, Minerva stopped walking and turned to her friend. "Dumbledore thinks he is the cat's pyjamas. He even looks like them, when he is in his stupid baby blue robes," she said in such an angry voice that Harry felt extremely relieved that her anger was not directed to him. "Poppy, I'm going to leave Hogwarts," Minerva decided in determination. "Will you come with me?"

_tbc..._

_You can find a story graphic as well as notes with explanations to this story on my facebook notes page (Please write 'FFNET' to your request, if you want to add me). I will post the story graphic to my Yahoo newsgroup once I am recovered from my latest lung infection. To my Lord of the Wind readers: Sorry for the delay!  
_


	2. Tis a like task we are at

**The Cat's Pyjamas**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
__The translation of the Pangur Ban poem is from an unknown author (chapter titles)._

_A huge thanks to JB5391 for her absolute brilliant beta-ing!_

_#+$  
_

_This story is dedicated to my wonderful friend and beta Mushcorn  
_

* * *

**2 – 'Tis a like task we are at**

"Minnie," Madam Pomfrey said, sighing. "Take Harry to your quarters and wait for me. I'm going to exchange a few more words with Albus in private."

"Thank you, Poppy," Minerva said and turned to Harry. "Harry, I will change you back to your cat form for the time being. Fortunately, the Headmaster doesn't know that you're an Animagus, so you'll be much safer as a cat."

"Okay," Harry said, although he had to admit to himself that it didn't feel good to find himself at wand point. To his delight, Minerva transformed into her cat form as well, and he happily followed her upstairs, through the empty corridors and staircases to her quarters. He looked in amazement at the enormous fireplace, around which the huge, airy living room was built. The tatami mat in front of the fireplace looked extremely inviting, and Harry looked longingly in the direction. The Transfiguration Mistress saw this and smiled; her whiskers and tail twitching in amusement.

=Harry, why don't you go and take a nap in front of the fireplace?= Minerva suggested kindly. =It is my favourite spot when I'm in my cat form.=

=Yeah, thank you,= Harry said gratefully, letting out an exhausted yawn as he curled up on the comfortable spot.

Minerva smiled as she observed the small, marmalade cat drift off to sleep. '_I need to wait for Poppy and then I'm going to take him to McGonagall Manor. I can lock off the fireplace, so that Albus won't be able to get to us, and then I'll contact Medusa_.' Her thoughts went haywire as she contemplated her situation. Her sister, Medusa O'Leary, was married to an Irish wizard, living in the Unites States of America. They lived in a huge Manor, which he had inherited, and it was so large that her sister had invited her more than once to come and live together with them. '_Maybe I should take Harry to America_.' Knowing that she couldn't talk to her sister through the Hogwarts fireplace, because the Headmaster would easily be able to listen in, she dismissed the thought for the time being and instead called Malcolm, her personal house-elf.

"Malcolm, we will leave Hogwarts. Please pack all of my private belongings and take them to McGonagall Manor," she instructed him, causing the small elf to let out a huge gasp.

"Mistress Minerva, what happened?" he asked in surprise.

Minerva let out a long sigh and explained what had happened, just when Poppy burst through the door.

"I think I won, Minnie," she said breathlessly, grinning, before her expression turned apprehensive. "Minnie, do you have any kind of plan of where to go and what to do? If you take Harry with you, you're responsible for him and..."

"Poppy," Minerva impatiently interrupted her friend. "I am not a teenager. I am thinking of taking him to my sister's home. If you're willing to come along, we could found a magical school there. Medusa even suggested I should do that a few years ago."

Poppy remained quiet for a moment, pondering the matter. "Well, the Manor was large enough for me to get lost when we visited your sister the first time," she said musingly. A small lop-sided smile appeared for an instant then disappeared. Changing the subject, she sighed. "Anyway, I told Albus that if I informed the Ministry of Magic about the abuse little Harry had to endure, he would end up in Azkaban. I remember well when Severus was in a similar situation. Unfortunately, at that time I had neither the experience nor the courage to stand up for him and put Albus under pressure. Anyway, Albus swore me a wizard's oath that he would not prosecute you for child abduction. Nevertheless, I believe that it is a brilliant idea to set up your own school, and living abroad would make it significantly more difficult for Albus to lay his hands on Harry."

The two witches decided to retreat to McGonagall Manor to make more detailed plans. Minerva took the still very sleepy cat Harry through the Floo network, allowing Poppy to travel after them, before she blocked the fireplace for any incoming calls from Hogwarts. She instructed Malcolm to prepare the room next to the Master bedroom for Harry, carefully laying the small cat on the sofa in the living room for the time being. A longer Floo conversation with her sister, who lived in Kentucky, confirmed that Medusa would still love Minerva to come and live with her and that she liked the idea of founding a magical school, especially since there was no wizarding school in Kentucky or the adjacent states at all.

"Minerva," Poppy said thoughtfully. "We need quite a few people to begin a school. Is there anyone, whom you'd like to invite, apart from Rolanda of course?"

Rolanda Hooch was Minerva's and Poppy's best friend. The three witches had met on their first travel to Hogwarts, when they shared a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Ever since then the trio had been inseparable.

"Medusa would surely be willing to teach," Minerva said thoughtfully. Before she married Patrick O'Leary, she taught magical children, but when she moved to Kentucky, she didn't teach again but helped him with his veterinary practice. Patrick might be willing to teach Care of Magical Creatures, at least a few hours a week, considering that the O'Leary's Magical Animal Emporium is on the grounds of the Manor, and the older students could even help him care for the sick animals."

"Yes, I remember that I saw very strange looking animals in the farther part of the park," Poppy threw in, her voice laced with concern. "Don't you think this would be dangerous for the students?"

"No." Minerva shook her head. "I don't think that he cures dragons or other dangerous animals in his clinic, and if so, we'll set up strong protection charms, which reminds me of something. I know someone who could teach Defence Against the Dark Arts." Seeing that her friend looked at her in expectation, she continued, "Remus Lupin. My brother-in-law will surely have a room in his clinic, where he can keep a werewolf safe once a month."

"That's a good idea," Poppy replied, smiling. "He is a very pleasant person." She sighed, before she continued to speak. "Minerva, if I may suggest someone, I'd like to ask Severus Snape, if he was willing to join us as the Potions Master and Potions professor."

The two friends spent the next hour continuing with their planning, before cat Harry woke up and meticulously began to clean his fur.

"Harry, is it all right if I transfigure you back into your human form?" Minerva asked gently and, seeing the marmalade cat nod, waved her wand over his feline form.

"Thank you," Harry said gratefully, sitting up on the very comfortable sofa. '_Where are we?_' he wondered, looking around the large room that was very bright and surrounded with bookshelves in amazement.

"We are at McGonagall Manor," Minerva answered his silent question. "Harry, are you sure that you want me to take you in? Do you want to live together with me and not return to your relatives?"

"If that's possible," Harry replied in a barely audible voice, knowing that he was a burden for everyone; however, the happy twinkle that appeared in his wide emerald eyes was answer enough for Minerva.

"Very well then," she said with satisfaction and explained to the child about her plan to move to Kentucky, until Malcolm popped up in front of them and informed them that dinner was served in the dining room.

"This is my house-elf, Malcolm," Minerva introduced the small elf to Harry, noticing that the boy looked at the creature with a mixture of interest and anxiousness.

"Hello Malcolm," Harry said shyly, and a small smile appeared on his lips at the sight of the elf that was not much taller than he was.

Minerva motioned for Harry to follow her and Poppy into the dining room, and Harry obeyed, before he stopped at the doorframe, looking at the table in shock. '_It's my job to cook dinner_,' he thought and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for, sweetie?" Poppy asked kindly, pulling him into the seat next to her.

"I'm not allowed to sit at the table," Harry mumbled, only for Poppy to hear.

"Of course you may sit at the table. This is where we eat our meals," Poppy replied softly, trying not to let the shock show from the boy's statement in her face.

"Harry, you're living with me now," Minerva threw in gently. "Please forget everything that you learned at your relatives' home. You will sit at the table with us and eat what we eat. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Harry said quietly, hesitantly watching Poppy pile a little of everything on his plate. He slowly took a few bites of the meal, noticing that it tasted very well, even the pumpkin juice, which was in the goblet next to his plate. Too soon for his liking, he felt stuffed.

"Is that all you can eat?" Minerva asked kindly and, when Harry cast her an anxious look, wondering if he was going to be punished because he didn't clean his plate, suggested, "Well then you can take a bath and go to bed. It's already late tonight."

'_A bath?_' Harry thought, terrified. '_What did I do to make them angry that they make me take a bath_?'

Minerva took in the boy's reaction, flabbergasted. "Let's clean you up nicely, before you go to bed. Look here." She took a tissue out of her robe pocket and to Harry's amazement transfigured it into a comfortable looking set of yellow pyjamas with a pattern of small marmalade cats that were moving around and letting out small meowing sounds from time to time. "All right, Harry, let's get you into the bath, and afterwards you may wear the nice cat pyjamas, hmm?"

Seeing that Harry still looked horrified at the thought of a bath, she asked, "What would you like to play with? Do you want to have a fish to play in the water?"

Harry's face slightly changed from horror to confusion. '_Play in the water?_' he wondered bewildered. '_I don't want to hurt myself in the hot water more than necessary_,' he thought, giving her an enquiring look but hesitantly followed Minerva into the bathroom, which was decorated in white and a burgundy colour. Seeing that Minerva pointed her wand at two of the taps in the wall, allowing water and soap to pour into the bathtub, mixing into bubbles, Harry anxiously pressed himself against the wall, as though he wanted to be part of it. '_Madam Pomfrey made all my pain go away. I don't want to take a bath and make myself sore again_,' he thought, terrified.

"What's wrong, Harry? Why don't you want to take a bath?" Minerva asked softly.

Harry gave her a frightened look. "Baths always hurt," he said in a subdued voice.

"Why Harry? Was the water too cold or too hot when you took a bath at your relatives' place?" Minerva enquired, her eyes widening at Harry's shy nod.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sure that Minerva would never let you bathe in too hot or too cold water," Poppy, who had just entered the bathroom, tried to coax the child into taking his clothes off and stepping into the bathtub.

As soon as Harry hesitantly put a foot into the tub, he noticed that the water was comfortably warm. He carefully climbed in and sat down, while Minerva conjured a few animal toys for Harry to play with, noticing in relief that the child immediately engrossed himself in his play, his eyes twinkling happily.

'_Wow, this is too cool. I get to play with toys that Dudley hasn't broken,'_ Harry thought as he continued to play, feeling very comforted and happier than he could remember having felt ever before.

Minerva threw Poppy a flabbergasted look, who in return gave her a calming smile and proceeded to carefully wash Harry's hair, ensuring no soap went in his eyes, saying, "I will bathe Harry, Minerva. You know that I'm used to bathing children. Is everything prepared for him for the night?"

Minerva quickly excused herself and returned to the living room to fetch the book "_The Tales of Beedle the Bard,_" which she used to make the Muggle born first year students read. In the meantime, Poppy wrapped Harry in a fluffy towel and proceeded to dry him off carefully. Harry was very relaxed after the warm bath and allowed himself to be led into the room, which Malcolm had prepared for him. He sighed tiredly when he obediently lay down in an extremely comfortable bed.

"Thank you," he quietly said to Minerva, smiling at her. "I loved the bath. I love staying with you."

"I'm glad to hear that, Harry," Minerva replied kindly.

"Now sweetie, I'd like to check on you to see if you need another potion before you go to sleep," Poppy informed him in an equally soft voice and quickly waved her wand at him. "Does your head still hurt a lot?" she asked, giving him a sharp look.

"No, only a bit. It's all right," Harry replied, letting out a huge yawn.

Before Minerva had even finished reading the first small story from the book, Harry was already fast asleep. "I'm glad to have you here, too," Minerva whispered as she turned to leave the room, casting a charm that would alert her if the child had any problems as she stepped out into the hall.

The two witches retreated to the living room, where they wrote letters to Rolanda Hooch, Severus Snape, and Remus Lupin, inviting them to McGonagall Manor the following evening. They spent the evening and half of the night making plans, and Minerva decided to blood adopt Harry and introduce him as her grandson in order to hide him from the magical world and its expectations towards the boy. However, they agreed to wait until the meeting with Severus, Remus, and Rolanda to listen to their advice and to possibly ask Severus for a blood adoption potion, which usually was not easy to lay hands on in Britain's magical world.

猫のパジャマ

In the morning, Minerva entered Harry's room shortly after the charm had let her know that he had woken up. "Good morning, Harry," she said gently, sitting on the edge of his bed. "Have you slept well?"

"Uh huh," Harry replied, sleepily reaching for his glasses, banging his hand on the night table several times until he felt the frames, only to sit up in shock as he heard Minerva's next words.

"Get up then, so that we can have breakfast."

'_Oh no, they're waiting for me to make breakfast_,' he thought, terrified as he scrambled out of the bed. "I'm sorry for being late," he apologized. "I'll go and make breakfast immediately."

Minerva's arm shot out, wrapped carefully around Harry's waist, and gently pulled him back onto the bed. "No Harry, you are not a house-elf. You don't have to make breakfast. Malcolm already prepared everything. I just want you to get up and eat breakfast with us." She placed a few tissues on Harry's night table, pointing her wand at the first to transfigure it into dark blue trousers, the next into a green T-shirt with a purring marmalade cat in the front. Finally, she made underwear and socks for him, placing everything on the bed. "Now Harry, get dressed and come to the dining room. Do you remember where it is?" she asked kindly.

"Yes," Harry replied in a small voice, chuckling as he eyed the green T-shirt. "Thank you; I 'specially love this," he said shyly fingering it, waiting until Minerva had left the room, before he quickly dressed into his wonderful new clothes. He walked downstairs eyeing the portraits of McGonagall ancestors long gone. When he arrived, he hesitantly opened the door to the dining room and stuck his head in.

"Come in, Harry," Minerva said softly, pointing to the chair that he had occupied the previous evening.

'_This is better than anything I could have ever dreamt of_,' Harry thought contentedly as he leaned back in his seat a few minutes later, feeling completely full and unaware of the concerned looks that he received from the adults.

Since Poppy deemed Harry not really well yet, Minerva suggested spending the morning in the living room reading books or drawing pictures, noticing that Harry's eyes began to twinkle happily at her plan. To her surprise, Harry looked at the coloured pencils that she conjured in pure delight. He cast a questioning look at Minerva, and, seeing her nod encouragingly, he began to draw a meticulously accurate picture of her own Animagus form on the Dursleys' wall. When Minerva and Poppy thought that the picture was complete and gently commended him, he stared at the tabby cat, causing it to jump down onto the ground and transform into Minerva's human form.

'_Oh no, I did magic_,' Harry thought, noticing that he suddenly did not feel very well anymore.

"Harry, don't do magic," Poppy said firmly, "although I have to admit that you did that very well, sweetie."

"Yeah, sorry," Harry said miserably, sighing in relief when Minerva suggested that he should lie on the sofa for a while and she would read to him from the book, which they had read the evening before.

The afternoon was spent in the shade of the old oak trees around a small clear lake, and Harry had a great time playing in the shallow water at the shore of the lake. He smiled joyfully when Minerva told him that the garden of her sister's manor had a much bigger lake and that she would teach him to swim when they moved to Kentucky. Meanwhile Minerva and Poppy sat on a plaid blanket talking, with books and journals scattered about, which got less attention than expected, as they loved watching Harry enjoying himself on the water's edge. Much too soon for Harry's liking, it was time to head inside to take a bath, dress and get ready for dinner.

"Today, we'll have guests for dinner," Minerva informed him, when they returned to the first floor. "I'm now going to open the fireplace, since they should arrive within the next ten minutes."

Harry eagerly followed her into her office, looking at the flaring fireplace in awe, since he had been asleep when he had arrived at McGonagall Manor the previous day. '_I missed such an interesting way to travel_,' he thought sadly, unaware of the fact that he would spend more time in the Floo network than he'd like it in the next few days.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments!_


	3. Hunting mice is his delight

**The Cat's Pyjamas**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
__The translation of the Pangur Ban poem is from an unknown author (chapter titles)._

_A huge thanks to JB5391 for her absolute brilliant beta-ing!_

_#+$  
_

_This story is dedicated to my wonderful friend and beta Mushcorn  
_

* * *

**3 – Hunting mice is his delight**

To Harry's amazement, three adults stepped successively out of the fireplace. The first was an older woman with spiky grey hair and hawk-like eyes, who immediately began to joke and seemed to be very funny. A younger, very tall man with black hair, who was wearing a slightly grim expression, and another man of about the same age, though he looked tired and scarred, followed her. Harry took an immediate liking to the latter man, whose hair and eyes were a warm, golden honey. He sensed that the man was just as nice and friendly as he looked. Minerva introduced Harry to the three of them, causing Harry to think, '_The tall man seems to dislike me. He looks at me like Uncle Vernon does_.' He hesitantly followed the adults into the dining room, inwardly sighing in relief when Poppy steered him into the seat between her and Minerva.

Realising that everyone's eyes lingered on Harry, Minerva began to explain how he had ended up in her care, about the Headmaster's reaction, and about her plans, finishing her explanation with the question if the three guests would be willing to accompany her to Kentucky and help her to set up the new school.

'_I hope the stern looking man won't_,' Harry thought, feeling very uncomfortable being the centre of attention. He tuned out the adults' conversation, turning his attention to his dinner plate and attempted to eat as much as possible in order to please Minerva and Poppy. '_I wouldn't want to make them upset_,' he mused.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Rolanda Hooch cheered, "Of course I'll join you. I heard that they don't play Quidditch in Kentucky, they play Hoopitch instead, and I can't wait to try it out. When are we going to leave?"

A small smile stole itself on Harry's face as he listened with interest and disbelief to her explanation about Hoopitch being a kind of basketball game that was played on broomsticks. '_Can magical people really fly on brooms?_' he wondered. '_I'd like to try that out_.'

"Minerva, Poppy," Remus Lupin spoke up in a slightly subdued voice. "You do remember my furry problem, don't you?"

"Of course we do, Remus, but that won't be a problem," Minerva said soothingly. "My brother-in-law is a vet and has a huge clinic for magical animals at the far end of the grounds. He will surely have a room for you to stay whenever you need it."

'_What is his problem?_' Harry wondered, looking at the man with interest. '_I hope he'll come with us. He seems really nice. Maybe I can do something to help him_.'

"If you're sure that your sister and your brother-in-law won't mind, I'll happily accept the offer. What would you like me to do at your school?" Lupin asked gently.

Minerva's lips stretched to a small smile. "Thank you, Remus. I really appreciate your support. Well, in fact I thought that you'd make a wonderful professor for _Defence Against the Dark Arts_; however, if you have any other suggestions or preferences..."

"No no," her former student replied quickly, his worried look morphing into a broad smile. "Defence would be my first choice." He glanced over at his former classmate. "Severus, will you come and teach Potions?"

The dark haired man looked up, quirking an eyebrow at the other wizard. Harry already expected him to admonish the kind man that there was no such thing like magic, when Poppy threw in, "Please Severus, do me the favour. I'd feel much more confident, having your potions at hand, and our new school would benefit greatly with Britain's best Potions Master teaching Potions."

"You expect me to teach groups of dunderheads?" the man sneered; however, Harry had the impression as if his dark expression had lit a bit. "Are you planning to have Houses like at Hogwarts?" he queried.

"No," Minerva replied firmly. "I have never been a fan of the House system." She pointed her wand at the tea spoon next to her plate and transfigured it into a parchment, to which she added an enormous amount of thin lines with another wave of her wand. "This is the Manor," she explained. "It is built in form of the letter U, consisting of three wings, and each of them has six floors. It should be about the size of Hogwarts. The East wing," she pointed to the map, "is the private wing. Here in the far corner, Patrick has his office, and this corridor here leads to the far end of the grounds, where the animal clinic is situated. The grounds are at least as huge as the Hogwarts grounds. The teachers' quarters would be here in the East wing, the common rooms and dormitories in the West wing and the classrooms in the South wing, which is connected to the East and the West wings on the first floor. There's a nice little walkway underneath that Medusa's honeysuckle has claimed. It's very beautiful in the spring."

"From which age are you planning to take students?" Lupin asked with apparent interest, glancing at Harry.

Minerva let out a long sigh, before she explained, "I was thinking of taking students from the age of eight. Of course, Harry would still be one year too young; however, considering the problems with his magic, I don't believe that it'll hurt to have him commence at an early stage. We'll have to see to what extent he'll be able to attend school at all."

A strange sound escaped from the Potions Master's lips, resembling a snort. "Minerva, if the boy has _Magica Incensio_, he will barely be able to follow classes like Transfiguration or Charms at the age of eleven, let alone at such a young age." Seeing that everyone looked at him in surprise, he sighed and continued in a softer voice, "Everyone assumed that my father was a Muggle; however, this isn't true. He was a pureblood wizard, but he had _Magica Incensio_. Therefore, I know a bit about this illness. Mr. Potter might be able to excel in subjects like Herbology or Potions, perhaps even the electives Ancient Runes and Numerology when he's older, provided that he shows any interest in these subjects; however, he will encounter difficulties with everything else."

"Am I to assume that you accept the post?" Minerva asked, smiling at the young man. "With you as the Potions Master and Poppy as the Herbology professor, Harry will be in good hands."

The adults agreed on Minerva's suggestions, and all three guests decided to follow her invitation to Kentucky.

'猫のパジャマ

In the morning, Minerva, Poppy, and Rolanda visited the Headmaster in his office to personally hand over their resignations. Minerva observed contentedly how Dumbledore paled at the prospect of losing three members of his long-time staff at once.

"Minerva," he thoughtfully began to speak as he slowly popped a lemon drop into his mouth, "I won't accept these parchments."

"Oh well, you'll have to," she said dryly, unobtrusively letting her eyes wander over the shelves until she found what she was looking for.

When Poppy noticed that Minerva was looking at her in expectance, she efficiently distracted the Headmaster by explaining about the Magica Incensio disease, causing Dumbledore to pale even more.

In the meantime, Minerva secretly pointed her wand at the huge book of all British magical children, making an invisible copy for herself that she then shrank and slid into her robe pocket. "Well Albus, you better not rely on Harry to fulfil any stupid prophecy resulting from the mutterings of an alcoholic fraud desperate for a job," she said firmly and rose from her seat, before she excused herself and left the office, with her two best friends in tow, leaving a very shocked Headmaster behind.

'猫のパジャマ

At the same time, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape spent some time with Harry at McGonagall Manor, since Minerva and Poppy did not want to leave the small child just on his own, who seemed so unsure and had been left alone too much at the Dursleys. The three wizards sat in the living room, where Malcolm served large helpings of hot cocoa for Remus Lupin and Harry and strong, black coffee for Severus Snape.

Harry curiously eyed the two professors, recalling what they had said the previous evening. "Sir," he hesitantly addressed Professor Snape. "Yesterday, you said something that I might be able to brew potions. I was just wondering if that was similar to cooking. My aunt taught me to cook when I was three." He questioningly looked at the tall wizard, shyly averting his eyes to the floor, when the man's expression turned to a sneer.

Before Snape could say anything though, Lupin spoke up, casting the Potions Master a warning look. "Yes Harry, you can say that it is a bit similar."

"The main difference is," Snape added in an equally neutral tone, looking directly at Harry, "that with Potions everything has to be absolutely correct, the amount of each of the ingredients down to the smallest quantities, the number of stirs, the stirring direction, the sequence of the ingredients added, as well as the correct timing. It is much more complicated than simple Muggle cooking."

"Ah, I understand," Harry said in absolute delight at the detailed reply. "This sounds very interesting. I can't wait to try it out. Thank you so much, sir, for offering to teach me."

The Potions Master nodded, and Harry couldn't help noticing that his expression had softened some.

'猫のパジャマ

As soon as Minerva and her friends returned from Hogwarts, Lupin and Snape eagerly skimmed the book for the students, who would be eight years old by the end of the month, while Minerva and Poppy put a letter together.

_The Kentucky Foundation for Children  
Headmistress Minerva McGonagall_

_Dear Mr./Miss. Xxx,_

_We would like to invite you to our new school, 'The Kentucky Foundation for Children,' which is a school for wizards and witches from the age of eight. Our school has been set up by long-time Hogwarts professors along with the best Potions Master of Britain and is based on our experiences at Hogwarts, which made us decide to begin three years earlier than our Alma Mater in order to provide fundamental background about the magical world from an earlier age._

_Please find attached a list with the items that have to be purchased before the beginning of the school year. Since this is the first year, the school will provide all students with the necessary school books for the subjects that will be taught at KFC. You will find a list with all subjects as well as an overview of the school fees attached. _

_The school is situated in Kentucky, USA, and the departure for the school will take place at King's Cross station platform nine and three quarters at 6 p.m. on August 31. All students will travel together with one of our staff by a group Portkey. The time difference allows for arrival at the school at approximately 11 a.m. local time, as there is 5 hours difference between Kentucky and Great Britain._

_We await your owl no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress_

_Medusa O'Leary, Deputy Headmistress_

She handed the parchment to her colleagues, who agreed with the text, before she added the usual list of items, fees, and information that was always sent out at Hogwarts as well as a list with the subjects, which Rolanda had set up in the meantime, while Poppy was playing with Harry. "Poppy, Severus, could you please call your house-elves, so that they can help Malcolm copying and sending out the letters?" she asked, sighing as she leaned back in her seat.

An instant later, Poppy's house-elf Misty, Severus' elf Cicero, and Malcolm were busily preparing the letters to the first years as well as to the older pre Hogwarts children, before they sent out a slightly different letter to those, who were already enrolled at Hogwarts.

"Minerva," Snape spoke up in a soft, baritone voice that made Harry look up from his drawing in surprise. "Don't you think we should personally take the letter to the Muggleborn students?"

"Oh right," Minerva said, slapping her forehead. "Good that you mention it, Severus. I completely forgot about that. So who is Muggle born here?"

"Here is one student, Cian Harold," Lupin spoke up, skimming the book. "And here is another one, although her birthday is only in September. Hermione Granger."

"Well then, let's invite the girl as well," Minerva replied, sighing. "We're probably going to have so few students at the beginning that the exact date of birth doesn't really matter for the first year, especially since Harry is a year younger than everyone else anyway."

'猫のパジャマ

Harry enjoyed himself greatly. For the first time in his life, he felt as if someone cared about him. Although Minerva behaved as if she was his mother or grandmother, the other adults, who were staying at McGonagall Manor together for the time being, took turns playing, reading, and talking with him every day, while the others were engrossed in the preparations for the new school. Harry liked each of them very much, even the grumpy looking Potions professor, who turned out to be much nicer when Harry asked him something than he seemed to be. Harry especially liked it when the professor told him about potions ingredients. He quickly learned that there were Muggle and magical ingredients and how to distinguish them. However, much to his chagrin, there was no potions lab at McGonagall Manor, so that they could not really brew anything. Harry couldn't go flying either, which Rolanda, the always funny teacher, promised to show him, because Poppy didn't allow him to fly. She insisted that he should not do any magic, before they moved to Kentucky, because the travel would be very strenuous for him.

Every evening when Harry went to bed, Minerva came to read a short story to him and to tuck him in, and Harry felt extremely happy and comforted by the small gesture. One evening however, Minerva, Poppy, and Severus entered his bedroom together. They explained that it would be safer for him when Minerva adopted him and officially became his grandmother. "Would that be all right with you, Harry?" Minerva asked in a soft voice.

"Of course," Harry replied, smiling broadly.

"Very well then," Minerva said and wrote her name into a parchment that she had placed on the night table. "There are two more things, which I need you to think about," she continued. "First of all, you need two godparents in case something happens to me. Can you choose the two of my colleagues, whom you like most please?"

Harry chuckled and quickly replied, "Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape please." Seeing that the Potions Master quirked an eyebrow, he thought, '_Good that exactly those two came here with Minerva and not the others, although I like them too_.'

Minerva nodded in understanding and wrote the names on the parchment. "Now Harry, we believe that even the change of your surname to McGonagall might not suffice to keep you safe. Therefore, we would like to change your first name and your birthday as well. For your birthday, we can just take today's date... no, tomorrow's," she corrected herself, "the seventeenth of July; however, to decide on your name is much more difficult. Do you have any name, which you particularly like, or would you like us to suggest something?"

"Suggest something please," Harry said, unable to think of a name that he loved. '_I like the name 'Julia', but that's a girl's name_,' he thought sadly, remembering the only girl at the primary school, who had always been kind to him.

"Very well then, how about 'Pangur'?" the Potions Master suggested with a small smile. "'Pangur Bàn' is an old Irish poem, written more than one thousand years ago by an Irish monk about his cat." Seeing that Harry was listening with interest, he continued, "and many Irish people name their cat Pangur. Now for the second name I'd suggest 'Dereg', because it means red in Gaelic. 'Pangur Dereg McGonagall sounds good for someone whose Animagus form is a marmalade cat."

"I like that," Harry said animatedly, questioningly glancing at his guardian, who looked at the Potions Master in appreciation.

Finally, McGonagall explained about the blood adoption potion and its effects, and Harry hesitantly agreed to take the potion, eyeing the small phial, which the Potions Master pulled out of his robe pocket, with anxiousness.

"Don't worry, Harry," Severus said in his soft, baritone voice. "This might hurt just a little bit, but if it does, I'll give you another potion that'll make you feel better." With that, he pressed the phial against the boy's lips, nodding contentedly when Harry obediently swallowed. Unbeknownst to Harry, he spelled a light pain relieving potion straight into the boy's stomach as soon as his features began to change.

'_It doesn't hurt_,' Harry thought in relief, looking up in surprise when Minerva said, "That's not much of a change now, is it? His hair is straighter and a tiny bit lighter than before, but that's about it. You look very handsome, sweetie."

'猫のパジャマ

When Harry came downstairs in the morning, he stopped dead in his tracks. The whole ground floor was decorated with hundreds of colourful balloons, and through the large windows of the living room he could see that the grounds had been turned into a huge playground. '_That's strange; what are they going to do?_' he wondered and, as hesitant as always, entered the dining room, only to notice a huge cake in form of a cat sitting in the middle of the table. It was decorated with cream and strawberries. '_Just like a marmalade cat_,' he thought in amazement.

Collectively grinning at his puzzled expression, the adults, who were already gathered around the table, began to sing the Happy Birthday song, causing Harry to become even more confused. '_Is it my birthday?_' he wondered. '_But Aunt Petunia told me that I didn't have a birthday_.'

"Pangur, as you know, we changed your name and your birthday last night," Minerva said in a soft voice, adding, "and we all wish you a very happy birthday."

'_Oh right, so I'm Pangur now_,' Pangur thought. '_I have to get used to it. I like that it's from a story about a cat. Maybe they'll allow me to change into a cat after breakfast_.'

However, the adults had other plans for him. After eating as much of the delicious strawberry cake as he could, he was led into the living room, where he found a huge pile of presents, each of them colourfully wrapped with ribbons and bows. '_Are they for me?_' Pangur thought in disbelief, looking up in surprise, when Rolanda pressed a large, very long present into his hands, motioning for him to open it.

"A broom!" Pangur breathed, letting out a happy squeal. "May I try it out?" He cast Poppy a pleading look.

"Later on, sweetie," his godmother replied kindly. "We want to take you to Diagon Alley in order to buy some proper robes and a children's wand for you first."

Pangur's expression turned into a broad smile. During the last two weeks, he had heard many stories about the magical shopping area, and he couldn't wait to see Gringotts or the Magical Menagerie. He hurriedly opened the other presents, receiving a First Potions Kit from his godfather as well as several books and clothes from Minerva and a large tome about magical animals from Remus Lupin. When he was finished unwrapping and had thanked everyone profusely, Minerva pulled a very excited Pangur into the fireplace, and the whole group took the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron, from where they walked into Diagon Alley. Pangur enjoyed himself greatly, even if he was slightly disappointed when they did not visit the Magical Menagerie.

"Pangur, you'll see many magical animals in Kentucky," Minerva said firmly. "If we went to the shop, you'd probably want to have an owl or any other animal, but I wouldn't be able to buy one now, because the journey to the USA would be too hard for a small animal. Apart from that, we don't have much time." Instead, she led him to an optician to buy new glasses for him, since Poppy had alerted her to the fact that his glasses didn't correct his eyesight at all.

In the evening, Pangur was very happy when he scrambled into bed, yawning from the exhaustion of playing in the playground the whole afternoon. "Thank you, Granny," he said, already getting used to calling his guardian by a different name. "This was the best birthday I ever had."

"You're welcome, Pangur," Minerva said softly, fondly ruffling his hair. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

Before the boy could even respond, he drifted off to sleep, a small smile playing on his lips.

'猫のパジャマ

During the two weeks until the end of July, many owls brought letters from excited pupils as well as hundreds of questions from concerned parents, which the teachers took turns to answer. On the thirty-first of July, Minerva announced proudly that the new school had fifty students only from Britain as well as ninety-eight students from America, where her sister had sent out the same invitations with the help of the American Ministry of Magic.

"Now Medusa seems to have done a great job preparing the Manor," Minerva said when they were gathered in the dining room for dinner. "Nevertheless, I believe that we should head to Kentucky tonight. I have charmed the fireplace so that only the six of us will be able to use it. Unfortunately, it's not possible to establish a direct Floo connection to a place abroad. Therefore, we'll have to go through the International Floo port at Heathrow airport."

After dinner, Pangur observed how the adults one after another stepped into the fireplace. Minerva and he were the last, and he felt relieved when Minerva gathered him into her arms and held him close, before throwing in the Floo powder, just as she had done on his birthday. They arrived in a huge hall, and Minerva told him that it was the Heathrow Floo port. Pangur let his eyes wander around in amazement. There were several dozen fireplaces with the destinations written on the mantelpieces, and he excitedly allowed Minerva to lead him by the hand to the area with the destination '_American continent_.'

However, when his godfather made everyone drink a potion, which was absolutely disgusting, he slowly became concerned about what to expect, especially when by the time they stepped into the fireplace all together, Poppy instructed everyone to sit down on the floor and Snape pulled him onto his lap, instructing him to sit quietly in his arms.

_tbc..._

_Thank you very much for your kind comments!_


	4. Hunting words I sit all night

**The Cat's Pyjamas**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
__The translation of the Pangur Ban poem is from an unknown author (chapter titles)._

_This chapter is un-betaed, and I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_#+$  
_

_This story is dedicated to my wonderful friend and beta Mushcorn_

* * *

**4 – Hunting words I sit all night**

Pangur (Harry) hesitantly sat on his godfather's lap and watched Minerva throw the Floo powder, shouting, "New York International Floo port."

He closed his eyes when the world suddenly began to spin around, faster than during the national Floo travel. '_I hope it'll be over soon_,' he thought, feeling a slightly queasy feeling spread in his stomach. He tightly leaned into his godfather's arms and heard the older wizard whisper in his soft, baritone voice, "Is everything all right, Pangur?"

"Yeah," Pangur mumbled miserably, feeling slightly relieved at the calming voice of the Potions Master, who whispered again, "Hold on, child. This will last a few minutes."

After a seemingly infinite time, the fast movement finally slowed down and came to an end. Pangur sighed in relief, when Rolanda held out her hand for him and led him out of the fireplace first. "Wow," he blurted out in surprise, taking in his surroundings in amazement. They found themselves on a tiny island, completely surrounded by the ocean. At one side of the island, a few small kiosks decorated the coast line, and on the opposite side, he could see five huge fireplaces, each of them labelled by the continent, to which they led. In the distance, he could see tall skyscrapers and a green statue of a lady wearing a crown and holding a torch. Pangur could also see, if he squinted, lots of cars; most of them yellow.

Minerva led the small group to the largest one, which was marked '_Domestic Floo_'. "Now, even if this side is large, the fireplace at the Manor allows only two people to step through at the same time," she explained and motioned for Poppy and Rolanda to go first. "Either 'O'Leary Manor' or 'Kentucky Foundation for Children' should work."

Pangur absentmindedly listened to his adoptive grandmother, who reassured him that the travel would be short and harmless; while he let his eyes wander around the shore. '_The sea_,' he thought in amazement. '_It looks wonderful_.' And indeed it was. Green-blue water was gently lapping the white sandy shore.

"Have you ever been to the seaside?" Minerva asked, following his gaze.

"No," Pangur said softly. "It looks extremely beautiful."

Minerva smiled as she pulled him into the fireplace. "During the next few weeks, we'll be very busy with the preparations for the beginning of school; however, if we're ready on time, we'll try to spend a day at the seaside. If not, we'll arrange something for the next holidays," she promised, before she shouted, "Kentucky Foundation for Children."

A mere instant later, Pangur stumbled out of the fireplace at Minerva's hand, finding himself in a large entrance hall. His first impression was that it was very bright. However, before he could even look around, an older woman, who looked exactly like his adoptive grandmother, stepped in front of them. She first hugged Minerva, before she leaned down to him and said, "Hello Pangur, I am Medusa O'Leary, your granny's sister."

"Hello," Pangur said shyly, eyeing the two sisters in awe. '_They look like twins_,' he thought, chuckling.

"Patrick, my husband, is still outside, on the grounds, looking after his patients, but he promised to be back in time for dinner," Medusa explained and called, "Bararow!" A small elf appeared in front of the group, and Medusa introduced him, "This is our Head house-elf, Bararow. If you need anything or have questions, just call him and he'll be happy to help. Bararow, please take Misty, Cicero, and Malcolm with you and show them the Manor." When the four elves popped away, she suggested, "Let me take you to your rooms, so that you can refresh yourself a little before dinner."

Minerva glanced at her wrist-watch. "Five o'clock," she said thoughtfully. "Dusa, considering that we're five hours behind in time and it's already ten o'clock at night in England, I believe that it's time for Pangur to go to bed. We already had dinner, before we left."

"Ah all right," Medusa replied in understanding. "We'll just have tea together then, when Pangur is in bed."

Pangur cast Minerva an indignant look, thinking, '_Why do I have to go to bed just when it's going to get interesting?_'

Medusa, who had caught his expression, laughed. "Oh Minnie, if looks could kill, you'd already be dead. Wouldn't it be better to allow the boy to stay up for a few hours more in order to get used to the different time? I'm sure he'd love Patrick to show him the animals, right, sweetie?"

"I'd love to," Pangur said excitedly, immediately liking Medusa.

'猫のパジャマ

Patrick O'Leary was a big man with red hair, green eyes and a welcoming smile on his face. '_He is very nice, too_,' Pangur thought when Minerva introduced her brother-in-law to her colleagues and him. '_I can't wait to see the animals_.'

Finally, the adults finished their dinner, and Patrick O'Leary asked, "Who wants to accompany me to the animal ward?"

"Me," Pangur was the first to reply, thrusting his hand up in the air, unaware of the fact that the adults observed him with amusement. He didn't even hear the chuckles of his companions.

Everyone decided to go, since it was a beautiful, sunny evening. His hand firmly tucked into Rolanda's, Pangur eagerly followed the vet out onto the grounds. They crossed the huge park behind the Manor, along the shore of a lake, which immensely reminded Pangur of the lake at Hogwarts, before they came to a vast, one-stored building, which from the outside resembled a greenhouse. "This is the clinic. I'm going to show you the small animals' ward first," Patrick announced, explaining that he had magical and non magical animals in his clinic. "Muggles won't be able to see our school; however, they can see my practice and can come through the connecting corridor to the clinic, unaware that it is a magical corridor. They think that the clinic is just in the adjacent room and not one kilometre away. Normally, I take the shortcut through the corridor as well. We just came this way, so that I could show you the grounds at the same time."

As they entered the building, Pangur's gaze fell on an orange toad that was surrounded by a small lake of a brown liquid, looking like chocolate. "What's that?" he blurted out in surprise, causing Patrick to smirk.

"That is a very rare magical animal, a chocolate frog spitting toad; however, he is suffering from an illness similar to diarrhoea that makes the chocolate frogs come out continuously and in liquid form," he explained. "I am giving him antibiotics, and I expect him to be better by tomorrow night."

'_He's too funny_,' Pangur thought in amusement, smiling at the toad that still had chocolate coming out of his mouth. '_I wonder what he looks like when he spits frogs_.' He absentmindedly followed the adults through the clinic, seeing many different kinds of animals, he had never heard of before. By the time they arrived in the last indoor room of the clinic, he was dead on his feet. Seeing that the room was full with cats, a small smile spread over his face. Tuning out the vet's voice, who explained about kneazles and magical lynxes, he changed into his cat form and lay down on an empty cushion, drifting off to sleep within seconds.

Only when the adults headed out to the outdoor part of the clinic, Minerva looked around in shock upon realising that her grandson was missing. "Where is Pangur?" she queried, turning back to the door.

The small group headed back into the cats' room, recalling that they had seen him admiring the kneazle cat, and Minerva pointed to the small marmalade cat. "There he is," she said, rolling her eyes in annoyance, sighing as she mumbled, "He has to learn that he tells me when he's tired."

Patrick quickly waved his wand over the small cat and nodded. "It is him," he confirmed, "and he seems to be exhausted. He also has a light fever. Why don't we leave him here for tonight? I'll have to come and check on the animals again in a few hours anyway."

Minerva looked from Pangur to her brother-in-law. "Won't he get sick if he's exposed to whatever these animals are ailing?"

Patrick shook his head. "No Minerva, the whole clinic is under a protection charm, which protects the animals from catching each other's diseases. Otherwise, I'd have to keep them in cages and even quarantine some of them. It's much nicer for the animals and helps with their recovery if they're able to do as they please and even play with each other if they feel well enough."

Apparently noticing that Minerva still didn't feel well at the thought of leaving the child alone, Severus suggested, "Minerva, why don't you transform into your cat form and stay with him? Otherwise, I can remain here with him. I am a magical lynx."

"You're an Animagus?" Minerva asked in disbelief, causing the tall man to smirk and change into a lynx.

A few minutes later, Pangur instinctively nestled into the tabby cat's and the lynx's fur, feeling very comfortable as he continued to sleep between the two larger animals.

'猫のパジャマ

During the following month before the start of the school year, the adults were very busy strengthening the wards around the school and setting up their new classrooms and offices, while Bararow, Misty, Cicero, and Malcolm together with the O'Leary Manor elves and a group of new house-elves that Minerva and Medusa had brought to the school prepared the common rooms, dormitories, and the huge, newly built dining hall. The dining hall was a round building, adjacent to the entrance hall, which was completely surrounded with glass windows and had a ceiling that displayed the sky like the one of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Due to its location at the heart of the school and its open feeling because of its glass walls and special ceiling, the teachers decided to call it '_The_ _Atrium_.'

Pangur was very happy to help the adults preparing their offices and classrooms as much as he could do without using magic. Sometimes, when no one else had tasks that the boy could fulfil, Patrick took him with him to the clinic. He told Pangur much about magical and non magical animals, and he showed him how to check on them, which depended on the animal, because his spells worked only partly on the non magical animals, so that he often had to use Muggle methods. Pangur could only watch when Patrick waved his wand over the magical animals; however, he felt very big when he helped the vet check on the non magical animals, looking at their wounds and checking their temperatures. He could also help Patrick to care for his patients and to administer potions and medicine to specific animals. "I want to become a vet when I'm big, too," Pangur said to Minerva, when he entered the Atrium holding Patrick's hand on the last day of the holidays.

"He is a very good assistant," Patrick said gently, smiling broadly as he took his seat at the table.

Pangur looked around the Atrium in amazement. Five large tables had been set up in a circle around the table, at which they were sitting. "This one is the table for the first and the tenth years, the one next to it for the second and the ninth, and so on," Minerva told him, pointing to the table that was right in front of them. "This table will be gone by tomorrow," she added. "The teachers will sit at the students' tables together with the students, for whom they are responsible."

"I can't wait for the other students to come," Pangur replied happily. "When will they be here?"

"Around noon tomorrow," Minerva replied thoughtfully. "Remus and Severus will travel back to England to accompany them here tomorrow morning, while the American students will arrive at the Apparition border at the same time. Medusa and Patrick will accompany them here. Oh and that reminds me," she continued, casting her adoptive grandson a stern look, "don't forget that you must address the professors with Professor and their surnames in front of the other students. Only in private you may call them by their given names."

"Yes Granny," Pangur replied, inwardly rolling his eyes. '_I know that_,' he thought indignantly. '_I'm already seven and a big boy_.'

'猫のパジャマ

Realising that Pangur was very excited and couldn't wait for the students to arrive, as soon as Remus and Severus had left, Poppy asked him to help her with the herb garden and the greenhouse, which she was setting up for her Herbology classes. Not everything was perfect like it was at Hogwarts yet, since the time had been too short for many of the plants to grow, but Poppy intended to make the specific classes work in the greenhouse, until everything was ready. '_I don't have as much time as Pomona has at Hogwarts_,' she mused, '_considering that I also have to get the hospital rooms ready and to look after the sick students when school begins_.' Since she had to teach classes instead of just being a Mediwitch like at Hogwarts, the staff had decided to not build one large hospital room but instead add one small hospital room to each floor, so that the professors, who were responsible for the respective floor, could more easily support Poppy.

Unbeknownst to Pangur, Poppy did not only ask him to help her in order to distract him, but also to closely monitor him. She mainly assigned him tasks, which he could do without using any magic; however, she also taught him two very easy spells, one of them being to magically cover mandrakes with earth, and she unobtrusively waved her wand over him before and afterwards, making mental notes of her diagnostic results.

Well in time, Poppy led Pangur to the Atrium, where they waited together with the other teachers for the students to arrive. When they heard the two groups arrive in the entrance hall nearly simultaneously, the teachers headed to their year's table, while Poppy motioned for Pangur to stay with her. "Patrick and I are not Head of any year, because we have to look after sick students and animals in addition to our teaching tasks, so I'm going to sit at your table together with your granny," she whispered into his ear, causing Pangur to smile.

Patrick ushered everyone into the Atrium and greeted the students. "Hello everyone and welcome to the Kentucky Foundation for Children. I'd like to introduce your teachers to you, and I'll ask you to proceed to the tables of your respective year." He pointed at the table, where Minerva was standing. "This is Professor McGonagall, our Headmistress and Transfiguration teacher. She is the Head of the 1st and 10th years. All first and tenth years please head over to your table." He waited a few minutes, before the hall quietened down again, before he continued, pointing to the next table, "This is Professor Hooch, our Flying instructor and History of Magic professor. She is Head of the 2nd and 9th years." While a group of students moved in the direction, he sent the next group to the third table, introducing Professor O'Leary, the Charms teacher, who also taught Math for the younger children and Latin for the older students. The fourth and the seventh years were sent to Professor Lupin, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor and the fifth and sixth year students to Professor Snape, the Potions professor. Finally, Patrick introduced Professor Pomfrey as the Herbology teacher and Healer and himself as the professor for the elective subject Magical Creatures.

"After lunch, your Head of the year will lead you to your common rooms. Now let's have something to eat first." With that Patrick ended his announcement and randomly took a seat at the second and ninth years' table between two identical looking boys, who willingly made space for him.

猫のパジャマ

Pangur, who was still sitting next to Poppy, listened with interest as the two older students introduced themselves: Nymphadora Tonks and Amelia Bones. Both of them had finished their sixth year at Hogwarts and were going to take their NEWTs at the end of the school year.

"We only have few students in upper years, because they have nearly finished their education elsewhere," Minerva explained gently.

"Well, our parents did not appreciate having to send us to a completely different school, but we managed to convince them when we pointed out that you were the Headmistress," Amelia said, smirking, and Nymphadora nodded in agreement.

The group of the first years were much larger and consisted of twenty-five students, twenty of them coming from different parts of the United States, the others from Britain. The two boys sitting next to Pangur were Eddie Carmichael and Adrian Pucey, and Pangur liked them immediately. He hesitantly told his name, blushing deeply when the girl opposite of him asked, "Pangur McGonagall? Are you related to Professor McGonagall?"

"I am her grandson," Pangur replied shyly, averting his eyes to the floor.

"Hello Pangur. I am Hermione Granger, and I only knew that I am a witch, when Professor McGonagall came and invited me here a few weeks ago. I can't wait..."

She was interrupted when the girl next to her introduced herself as Katie Bell, and the students at the other side of the table continued with the introductions. '_They all seem nice, and being together with so many other magical children will be great fun_,' Pangur thought happily, standing close to Adrian and Eddie, when Minerva asked them after dinner to form to groups of three, because always three of them were going to share one bedroom. As soon as everyone was grouped, she assigned each group a room number, before she led them to the first floor, where the first and tenth years' common rooms and bedrooms were situated.

Pangur's room was the first on the right side, and he eagerly stepped inside after Eddie and Adrian, looking around with amazement. One wall was completely taken over by a huge window, leading out onto the grounds and the lake. When he stepped out onto the balcony, he could even see as far as the clinic. The three other sides of the room were each furnished with a four-poster bed and a huge wardrobe. Three large desks with comfortable looking chairs were placed in the middle of the room, and the whole room was decorated in different shades of blue. On the wall opposite of the window were two doors, one of them leading into the corridor, the other to a small bathroom.

"That's brilliant," Eddie blurted out. "Much better than everything I heard from Hogwarts."

"Not bad," Adrian agreed as he let himself sink onto the bed on the left hand side.

"I love it," Pangur said in a small voice, heading over to the last free bed to unpack his luggage, which had appeared out of nothing as soon as Eddie had chosen his part of the room.

The three boys busied themselves unpacking, until the girl with the bushy brown hair, who had talked so much earlier, stuck her head into the room. "Pangur," she began to talk right away, "do you know where the library is? I'd love to..."

She was interrupted when Minerva entered the room. "Are you finished unpacking?" she asked kindly. "I'd like to ask everyone to come into the common room for an orientation." Shooting a disapproving glance at Hermione, she left the room, and everyone hurried to follow her.

'_What are these doors?_' Pangur just wondered, when Minerva explained that the doors to the right of the wide corridor all led to the bedrooms, while the three doors to the left were connecting doors to her office, to the hospital room, and to the common room. The first years and the two tenth years gathered in the common room, sitting on the floor in a circle, and everyone waited for the Headmistress to begin to speak with excitement.

However, before Minerva could explain anything, Nymphadora Tonks spoke up. "Professor, is here anything like Hogsmeade nearby, where the older students can go shopping on the weekends?"

_tbc..._

_Sorry for the delay. I updated this story in small bits and parts on Facebook and completely forgot to post the chapters here. Next update will be much faster, since I have already written on up to the end of chapter 6..._


	5. Tis a merry thing to see

**The Cat's Pyjamas**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
__The translation of the Pangur Ban poem is from an unknown author (chapter titles)._

_This chapter is un-betaed, and I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_#+$  
_

_This story is dedicated to my wonderful friend and beta Mushcorn_

**

* * *

5 – 'Tis a merry thing to see**

Minerva cast her former Hogwarts student a disapproving look, before she responded, "Luckily, there is a small magical shopping area in Lexington, which is about half an hour walk from here. All classes will take turns going there, accompanied by the Head of year and another staff member. Your and the first years' turn will be next Saturday, the second and the ninth years will go next week, and so on, so that you'll be able to visit about once a month."

A huge rumour began as the first years began to whisper with their new classmates, until Minerva instructed them to be quiet. She explained that the teachers had decided to always pair an upper class with a lower class, so that the older students could help the younger ones with their studies and other matters, while the younger students were asked to help the older students, who were busy studying for their exams, with small chores.

"Since we only have two students in the tenth years class, this will be difficult here; however, I will be here for you as well, and Professor Pomfrey, who is not a Head of year due to her double work load as Herbology professor and Healer, will take care of this class as well for some reason." Seeing that everyone looked at her in expectation, she let out a long sigh, glancing at Pangur.

"It's all right," Pangur said in a small voice, casting his guardian a hesitant smile.

"My grandson, Pangur, is magically disabled," Minerva explained slowly. "Don't misunderstand me. He is very powerful; however, he is not allowed to do much magic, because it makes him sick. He suffers from _Magica Incensio_, of which most of you have never heard before. Therefore, he needs Professor Pomfrey's additional supervision, and he might not be able to participate in all of your classes. If necessary, he will receive special education. He is also a year younger than everyone else here; however, since he is living here at the school anyway, my colleagues and I have decided to make him a first year now rather than wait a year. Please help him if you notice that he has problems with magic. In return, I am sure that Pangur will love to assist in case you get lost or need help in any non magical way."

"Will do," Hermione spoke up immediately. "Pangur, will you show me to the library?"

Pangur, who had averted his eyes to the floor, feeling terrified at the unwanted attention, looked up in surprise and began to smile. "Of course; I love the library, and I'm sure you'll like it, too," he said in a soft voice.

"Very well then, I suggest that you make yourselves familiar with the building and the classrooms, and I'll see you all for dinner in the Atrium. All of you will attend breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. No exceptions. Classes are going to commence tomorrow morning, and you will find your timetables on your night tables by curfew tonight. I'll be in my office in case you need me." With that Minerva released everyone, inwardly chuckling upon noticing that the whole group gathered around Pangur.

猫のパジャマ

As much as Pangur had hated the attention earlier, as much he felt relieved knowing that all of his classmates were aware of his problems, so that he wouldn't have to hide anything from everyone. '_This makes it a bit easier_,' he thought, trying to suppress his anxiousness towards the beginning of classes. '_Will I be able to do any magic in classes like Transfiguration or Charms? Maybe they'll tell me that I'm not able to attend the KFC school and have to go to some Muggle school_.' Very deep in thoughts, he led his classmates to the library, which was a large and very bright room on the top floor of the main building. Huge bookshelves filled the room from the floor up to the high ceiling. Here and there, the bookshelves were interspersed by small alcoves leading to the outside, which were completely surrounded by glass and had small benches, on which they could sit, giving the impression that they were suspended in the air.

"Oh Pangur, this is absolutely fascinating," Hermione blurted out, causing the boy to smile.

"That's true. I've been here quite a few times, because I really love this room. It's my favourite place," Pangur admitted, shyly smiling at the excited girl.

During the next hours, Pangur showed his classmates around the school and over the grounds as far as the animal clinic, where he happily explained everything he knew about the magical patients.

"You know a lot about animals," Amelia said in amazement. "Do you like animals?"

"I love them," Pangur admitted in a small voice. "I especially love the cats and the snakes, because I'm able to communicate with them. Unfortunately, I can't understand the other animals. I can only check on them to see what is ailing them with Professor O'Leary's help."

"You can speak with cats and snakes?" Hermione queried, giving him a sharp look. "How do you do that? I'd love to speak with the cats. I love cats, although my parents never allowed me to have one."

Pangur shrugged. "I don't know why I can speak with snakes, but I can understand the cats ever since I became a cat Animagus."

"An Animagus?" Eddie asked in disbelief. "I think you can't do magic."

"He can," Hermione replied on Pangur's behalf, "but he is not supposed to do that, because it makes him sick. Is that right, Pangur?"

"Yes," Pangur responded in a small voice, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment. "Through this door, you can go outside, but we're not allowed to go there at the moment, because there is a dragon with a respiratory infection. He is breathing fire continuously, so that it's very dangerous to go near him. I think we should go back to the school, so we'll be back in time for dinner."

"Thank you, Pangur," Nymphadora, the second tenth class girl, said warmly. "This was a very interesting introduction to the school."

猫のパジャマ

When Pangur returned to his dormitory after dinner, he eagerly skimmed his timetable. "Uh... What day do we have tomorrow?" he asked hesitantly.

"Tomorrow is Tuesday," Adrian said, casting him a surprised look. "Don't you know the weekdays yet?"

"I'm sorry," Pangur said sadly, "Granny and Professor O'Leary taught me, but I forgot. I grew up with my relatives, and they didn't teach me anything."

"Don't worry, Pangur," Eddie said kindly. "Just ask us. It's not a problem. What I hate is if people pretend they know and don't ask."

"Okay, thanks," Pangur said, feeling very much consoled by his roommates' words. '_My classmates are really nice_,' he thought, '_even the tenth years, although they're girls_.' He once again engrossed himself in the timetable, noticing that they had Potions and Maths on Tuesday mornings, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures and Transfiguration in the afternoon. '_Oh, that's going to be a long day, but at least we only have to use magic during the last afternoon class_.'

猫のパジャマ

The first years were very intimidated when the Potions Master strode into the Potions classroom at the beginning of their first morning class, causing Pangur to inwardly chuckle. '_I wonder why he tries to scare everyone, although he is so nice if one knows him better_,' he mused, eagerly following the professor's words. He held a monologue about the necessity of being careful when brewing, before he made a recipe appear on the board in front of the classroom and showed them how to prepare the ingredients and brew the potion from the recipe. Pangur enjoyed himself greatly and was honestly disappointed when the class was over and the professor dismissed them with the instruction to read the first chapter in their book.

Math class passed equally pleasantly. Professor Medusa O'Leary made them take a quiz in order to get to know each of the student's level, and Pangur felt extremely happy, since for the first time in his life, he could answer all the questions without having to fear Dudley's wrath if he received better results than him. '_This is too cool_,' he thought, smiling at Hermione, who was sitting next to him and apparently enjoying herself as well.

In Herbology, Professor Pomfrey gave them a tour through the greenhouse and showed them the plants, which the first years would deal with during the first weeks. However, as much as Pangur enjoyed all his classes, the Care of Magical Creatures class with Patrick was the best, even if he found the flubberworms, which they were assigned to raise during the following two weeks, extremely disgusting. However, as soon as the class ended, he slowly began to panic.

"Pangur, are you going to attend Transfiguration together with us?" Hermione asked carefully as they headed towards the Transfiguration classroom, noticing that he seemed somehow different from how he had been the whole day.

"Yes," Pangur replied, letting out a long sigh, before he continued in a small voice, "but I'm not sure how much magic I can do, and the adults don't know either. We just have to try it out, so I'm told to try every spell just once or twice at the most."

"Oh well, don't worry about it. Your grandmother knows that and won't expect that you manage everything after the first try," Hermione said soothingly.

"Maybe you can ask them if you may have another go later on in the common room or in the dormitory," Adrian suggested.

"Where are we supposed to practise for our classes anyway?" Ernie asked, glancing at Pangur. "Or do they expect us to be able to do everything correctly just after practising in class?"

"As far as I know, we can practise in the common room," Pangur said slowly, "which is another reason why they pair the classes with older students, so that the older students can help or watch that the younger ones don't kill each other as Professor Snape said. I'll have to ask Madam Pomfrey if I may practise again later on. I'm supposed to go and see her after the last afternoon class anyway."

By the time they entered the Transfiguration classroom, Pangur was not panicking anymore; instead, he felt very happy at the thought of having gained three friends, and seeing Minerva sit on top of her desk in her feline form, purring at him helped as well to fight his anxiousness. After a short introduction into her subject, Minerva handed out white parchments and taught the children a spell to transfigure these into red ones.

"This is fairly easy," she explained gently. "The more power you put into the spell, the more colourful the parchment will become."

Pangur spent the first few minutes observing his classmates' efforts, which remained unfruitful at first. Only after ten minutes of practising, a light pink parchment was lying on Hermione's desk.

"Very well done, Ms. Granger. Now try to implement a bit more magic," Minerva gently commented the girl, looking questioningly at Pangur.

Pangur nodded and pointed his wand, which he had already used to practise the wand movement, without really casting the spell by applying magic, at the parchment, uttering the incantation. To his surprise, the parchment immediately turned into a light red tone.

"That was well done, Mr. McGonagall, although you should try to put less magic into your spells," Minerva advised him in a soft voice.

'_Yeah, probably_,' Pangur thought, noticing that he felt very tired. He slid his wand back into his robe pocket and proceeded to watch his classmates' practice. Only a hand full of them managed to perform the spell at all, and only Ernie's magic was strong enough to transfigure the parchment into a red and not a pink one.

Pangur was torn between relief and embarrassment, when Hermione, Ernie and Adrian insisted to accompany him to Professor Pomfrey's office after the Transfiguration class. The Healer quickly waved her wand over him and gave him a sharp look, before she asked him a few questions and finally instructed him to try using less magic the next time. "Go to bed early tonight and don't do any more magic before your afternoon classes tomorrow," she advised him, before she dismissed the children, happy that Pangur had already found friends.

The following days passed in a similar way. Apart from the fact that he was not allowed to properly practise during his Transfiguration and Charms classes, Pangur thoroughly enjoyed himself. The teachers decided to completely exempt him from Defence for the time being, and instead, Patrick gave him additional classes in Care of Magical Creatures and Animal Healing.

猫のパジャマ

On Friday evening, the first and the tenth years were equally excited, knowing that they were going to have their first day out in town in the morning. Right before curfew, Minerva gave out their pocket money, since the students were not allowed to keep money whilst being at the school, and the first years wondered what they would be able to buy with their money, listening to the tenth years, who told them about their Hogsmeade visits, with amazement.

Patrick O'Leary accompanied the group, together with Minerva and Poppy. They left the school through the main entrance, turned right, and a few metres ahead was a small, green gate. "You must go through the gate. It'll take us right outside Lexington," Patrick explained, causing Pangur to wonder why he had not noticed the gate before. As if he was able to read his thoughts, Patrick added, "The gate is only visible if we conjure it before leaving the house."

One after the other, the group headed through the gate. When Pangur hesitantly followed Hermione, he suddenly found himself at a completely different place. The school building and the forest that surrounded it were gone. Instead there were houses, streets, and lots of cars. 'This must be Lexington,' he realised. Looking back, he saw the same green gate right next to the street. 'Won't other people go through the gate?' he wondered, glad when Hermione voiced the same question.

"Muggles won't be able to see the gate," Patrick explained patiently, "and it is a so-called return gate. You can only enter from this side after travelling from the school to here first."

After thirty minutes of walking through the streets, the adults motioned for the group to stop. Pangur looked around with interest. There was a gate beside the road in a green area in the middle of the city, which looked like an access gate used by workmen to maintain the park.

"This is the access portal to the magical downtown area of the city," Patrick informed the group. "The main street has the form of a circle, in between you'll find a few small side streets. In case you need one of us, you'll find at least two of us on the main street. We'll meet here again in three hours' time to have lunch together. If anyone is as much as a minute late, he or she will be suspended from the next Lexington visit."

Pangur looked at the vet in surprise. Never before had he heard the man speak in such a strict voice. He resolved to never ever get on his bad side. While the two tenth years and some of the first years headed away as soon as they had stepped through the portal, the majority of the group, including Pangur and his friend, stayed with the adults. Minerva looked at her students and smiled. "Of course you may remain with us if you wish. Being used to the Hogwarts first years being eleven, I did not consider that most of you are only eight years old and not used to exploring the town on their own. This shopping area, however, is quite small, and in contrary to, for example, Diagon Alley I'd deem it safe for you."

"I'd feel safer together with the adults," Hermione whispered to Pangur, who nodded his agreement, looking around with interest.

He had been to Diagon Alley, before they moved to America, and even if this street looked very similar, there were shops, which he could not recall having seen at Diagon Alley. 'The Hoopitch Shop,' one of the signs over a very old looking shop said, causing Hermione to turn to the adults.

"Excuse me, Professors, but what is Hoopitch?"

While listening to Medusa's explanation about the basketball game that was played on brooms, Pangur's gaze fell on a much larger shop that was decorated with... "A horse?" he asked in disbelief.

"That is not a horse, Pangur, but a hippovol," Medusa gently corrected him. "It is very similar to the normal Muggle horse, but it is a magical horse that is able to fly."

"But it doesn't have wings," Hermione observed.

"It has," Patrick disagreed. "However, the hippovol is able to pull in its wings and pull them out if necessary, just like a cat pulls in and out its claws."

"Is it possible to ride on there?" Hermione queried, looking at the hippovol with a mixture of interest and fear.

"Yes, it is the main sport of the wizarding community here around Lexington, while the mostly played sport in Kentucky is Hoopitch," Patrick explained patiently.

"Are we going to do any magical sports at the KFC?" Adrian asked with interest. "I heard so much about Quidditch being played at Hogwarts, and it sounds like great fun."

"We will at least play Quidditch and Hoopitch at the KFC School," Minerva replied, smiling at her eager students. "We just wanted to give everyone a little time to adjust to the new surroundings, before your Sports class Professor Hooch will commence."

"Maybe we should consider buying at least one hippovol," Patrick said thoughtfully, glancing at Pangur. "Riding on a hippovol involves magic, but not as much as the riding on a broom."

Pangur jumped aside in shock when all of a sudden something dark and huge swept down from the sky, nearly crashing into Hermione and him.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments!_


	6. At our tasks how glad are we

**The Cat's Pyjamas**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
__The translation of the Pangur Ban poem is from an unknown author (chapter titles)._

_This chapter is un-betaed, and I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_#+$  
_

_This story is dedicated to my wonderful friend and beta Mushcorn_

* * *

**6 - At our tasks how glad are we,**

"Oh, I'm sorry, darlings," a tall witch jumped down from a hippovol, leaning down to Hermione and Pangur.

"It's all right," Pangur replied in a small voice, looking at the large horse with a mixture of anxiousness and amazement.

"Is that a hippovol?" Hermione asked with apparent interest. "Is it difficult to fly on it?"

"No sweetie," the witch replied, smiling at the children. "It's easier than to ride on a broom if you know what I mean."

While Hermione and Pangur exchanged a glance, Patrick turned to the witch. "Good morning, Madame. These children here are first years at our new school. I suppose you heard about it."

"Of course, Dr. O'Leary," the woman replied eagerly. "You really should come and get one or two for the school. Bring the children along and come over tomorrow. I just have some Mini Candy Cane foals, which are ready to be given away. They'll like it." She glanced at her wrist watch. "Ooops, already so late. Take care Doc, I must go." She waved at Hermione and Pangur and hurried away through the crowd, followed by the hippovol.

The group of first years and teachers looked at each other, smiling at the witch's antics, before Minerva blurted out, "She reminds me of Professor Hooch. May I ask who she is?"

Patrick smirked. "Ms. Seal is a very interesting woman, and yes, I can imagine that they could get along well. She is one of my best customers. She owns a huge farm with a renowned horse stable and has also many dogs, cats as well as some smaller types of magical animals. I'll go and have a look at the horses tomorrow."

"Aww, please Professor, may we come with you?" Hermione asked eagerly, bringing a broad smile to Pangur's face.

"I'd love to go as well," he said quietly, glancing up at Patrick with a hopeful expression.

猫のパジャマ

In the morning, Patrick and most of the first year students took a Portkey to Ms. Seal's farm. While his classmates were very excited as the humorous witch showed them the stables, Pangur was over the moon with joy when Patrick allowed him to accompany Mr. Seal and him and assist, while he checked on the foals. The Mini Candy Cane foals were white with red stripes and looked very cute.

"Aww, they're adorable," Pangur said in amazement as he carefully petted the last of the foals, which somehow seemed different from the others. It had golden eyes instead of the brown eyes that the other foals had, and it seemed to smile at him.

"Goldie is still a problem," Mr. Seal explained, pointing to the foal that Pangur was petting. "She is very temperamental and has a mind of her own. She just doesn't want to do what she is supposed to do. She is able to fly; however, she only complies at times. We won't be able to sell her to anyone." He interrupted himself, staring at Pangur and the horse in surprise.

Pangur had laid his right hand onto the foal's back, and the foal was contentedly pushing her nose against the boy's face.

"I have never seen this before," Mr. Seal said, sounding very astonished. "Every other foal wants to cuddle from time to time, but Goldie never does. She doesn't like being touched at all. She must really like the boy."

"She is wonderful," Pangur said in a soft voice, happily leaning against the small horse. '_Her skin feels so good_,' he thought, finding it very soothing to carefully stroke the cute animal's skin. Suddenly, a soft voice penetrated his mind.

'Hello young one. I like you. Please take me with you.'

Pangur looked up, startled. The foal once again pushed her nose against his cheek. 'It's me who is talking to you. I have bonded with you,' she explained in a soft voice.

"Pangur, is everything all right?" Patrick suddenly asked, causing the boy to turn his eyes to his grandfather-in-law.

Pangur hesitantly repeated what the horse had told him, anxiously looking from Patrick to the farmer.

"How wonderful Pangu," Patrick said warmly, before he turned to the other wizard. "We'll take Goldie and the three next to her then." He leaned down to closely examine Goldie's legs.

"No no Doc," Mr. Seal replied quickly. "You won't be able to use Goldie for Hippolo for the students. She will not obey to anyone. Maybe to Pangur, because she bonded with him, but not to anyone else."

'_Oh no_,' Pangur thought, already feeling very disappointed, when the farmer continued, "I suggest that you take these four here, and I will give you Goldie for free."

Pangur couldn't believe his ears and sadly averted his eyes to the floor, when Patrick protested that he could not accept such a gift. However, the kind farmer countered, "You have saved so many of our horses, dogs and cats during all these years that I am more than happy to gift her to you, especially considering that the school buys four of our horses. Moreover, you'll certainly want to buy a dozen more in the new future in order to have enough for two full teams including some spare ones. I wouldn't be able to sell her to anyone anyway. The boy seems to be good for her, and I'm glad to know her in good hands."

After an ongoing discussion, Patrick decided to buy all of the Candy Cane foals as well as a few older Candy Cane horses in order to have enough for two Hippolo teams.

Pangur carefully laid his arms around the foal's neck. "I'm going to take you with me," he whispered, feeling extremely happy.

The farmer promised to successively fly all horses to the school during the following evenings. "We wouldn't want the Muggles to see horses fly over the town," he explained to Pangur and instructed him to take good care of Goldie, which Pangur promised firmly.

'_I'd love to see Aunt Petunia's face if she saw a Candy Cane horse fly over Privet Drive_,' Pangur thought, inwardly chuckling happily at the thought of never having to return to the Dursleys and having his own horse familiar. '_Dudley would be so jealous if he knew_,' he mused.

猫のパジャマ

Pangur's classmates were not less excited, and the whole school was gathered on the grounds when the first horses arrived.

"From next week onwards, we will have horse riding classes as well as Hoopitch and Hippolo practice for those, who want to learn," Professor Hooch, the Sports and History of Magic teacher, announced, explaining that Hippolo was similar to Quidditch but being played on horses.

"The Candy Cane horses need sugar for their well-being, and while flying, for example during a Hippolo or match, they must have a break and be fed some sugar at least once every two hours," Patrick explained.

"Oh, I read about that," Hermione spoke up eagerly. "Once at a Hippolo match in 1309, they forgot to feed the Candy Canes their sugar, and the horses became very tired. Two of them crashed and exploded, scattering candy canes all over the place."

Everyone laughed, and Patrick added, "Yes, that seems to be a true story. Fact is that the horses either refuse to fly or begin to spit out candy canes all over the spectators if they don't receive enough sugar."

'_Wow, Hermione really knows everything_,' Pangur thought, eyeing his friend in amazement. To his disappointment, Goldie was not among the horses that arrived first. Like in a trance, he followed his classmates back into the house. '_I wished I could think to her like she did_,' he thought. '_How does that work anyway? She said she could because she bonded to me, but is there a way I can bond to her as well?_' He remained very thoughtful for the rest of the evening and finally resolved to ask Patrick.

猫のパジャマ

On Monday, Pangur was very absentminded. While he half-heartedly listened to the teachers' explanations, his thoughts wandered off to Goldie.

"Pangur, are you all right?" Hermione asked when they entered the Atrium together at lunchtime. "You're very unconcentrated today."

"I'm fine," Pangur replied, smiling, and resolved to pay more attention during his afternoon classes. However, when they had to make balloons pop in their Charms class, he unintentionally used too much magic, causing all balloons to burst at the same time.

Medusa cast him a sharp look, before she conjured new balloons for the students to practise and said, "Mr. McGonagall, try to be more careful and keep your magic at bay."

Pangur apologized and promised to be more careful the next time. However, while he spent the remaining time of the class observing his classmates, he couldn't help feeling unwell, which did not go unnoticed by the professor.

"Mr. McGonagall, please stay behind," Medusa called out to him when she dismissed the others.

Inwardly groaning, Pangur slowly made his way to the front of the classroom, feeling very much reassured that Hermione, Eddie and Adrian accompanied him.

Medusa looked at his friends with clear displeasure and asked, "Pangur, are you feeling sick?"

Pangur almost flinched back, when an ice-cold hand found its way to his forehead, where it lingered for a moment. "A bit," he admitted in a small voice.

"You have a fever," Medusa said, frowning. "Do you want to return to your dormitory or rest in your own room in your Granny's quarters for a while?"

"My dormitory," Pangur replied immediately, wanting to be together with friends.

Medusa nodded and turned to Eddie and Adrian. "Please accompany Mr. McGonagall back to your dormitory. I'll send Professor Pomfrey or my husband to check on him."

Pangur cast her a pleading look. "Oh please could you send your husband? I urgently need to talk to him anyway."

"We'll see," Medusa replied, looking at him in irritation, before she waved her wand in a complicated movement, causing two small white horses to emerge from the tip of her wand.

The students watched in amazement how the horses made their way across the room and headed out right through the wall.

"Professor," Hermione spoke up with clear excitement. "What are these, and how can I learn how to do this?"

'_Leave it to Hermione to ask such a question_,' Pangur thought, for once feeling very annoyed at Hermione's manner of questioning everything. His head pounded badly, and he wanted nothing more than to return to his dormitory and lie down.

"Ms. Granger, these are called Patronus, and you may ask me again in five years' time," Medusa replied in a voice that allowed no space for further questions. "Take care Pangur. I'll come to see you later on." With that promise, the Deputy Headmistress ushered the four students out of the classroom.

猫のパジャマ

'_I hope Patrick will come to see me. He won't make a fuss like Poppy or Granny_,' Pangur thought as he quietly followed his classmates through the corridor to the West wing. '_I wanted to speak with Patrick anyway_.' Back in his dormitory, Pangur lay down on his bed and sighed in relief when his achy head touched the pillow. Noticing that his friends stood around his bed, looking at him in concern, he forced a weak smile onto his face and said, "Thanks for coming here with me, but it's all right now. I'm fine. I'm only tired. You can go and do your homework."

"We can work on our Potions summary here together," Hermione suggested. "Then you can simply write it down when you feel better later on."

Eddie and Adrian agreed, causing Pangur to inwardly groan. '_I only want to rest_,' he thought, '_but how can I tell them that without hurting their feelings? I'm so glad that I finally have friends; I really don't want to anger them_.' He barely listened to the conversation, glad when not even Hermione seemed to expect any contribution from him.

A few minutes later, his godfather strode into the room. "Leave," he said to the others, pointing towards the door. "Mr. McGonagall needs his rest."

"But..."

"No buts, Ms. Granger. Do not try my patience. Out now."

Pangur couldn't help feeling relieved that the Potions Master's glare was not directed at him.

"What happened?" Severus finally asked in a much friendlier voice, taking a seat on the edge of Pangur's bed.

"I used too much magic. I'm sorry," Pangur replied tiredly, closing his eyes as he saw the professor point his wand at him.

"Severus," he suddenly heard his grandmother's voice. "How is he?"

"Pangur has depleted his magic to a great extent and is running a fever. He won't be able to attend classes for the rest of the week."

"For the rest of the week?" Pangur blurted out, terrified. "Today is only Monday. Please let me go to class tomorrow. I'll be fine."

Severus quirked an eyebrow and finally said, "You can ask Madam Pomfrey later. This is only my recommendation."

"I'm sure Poppy will agree with you," Minerva said thoughtfully. "Where is she, by the way?"

Severus sighed. "The eighth years seemed to have a fight between the former Hogwarts students and the American students during their Defence class, and Poppy and Patrick are busy healing them."

猫のパジャマ

To Pangur's chagrin, Poppy and Patrick both agreed with the Potions Master, and he was not allowed to attend any more classes for the rest of the week. However, as soon as he felt better, he could help Patrick in the clinic during the mornings and spend some time with Severus in the Potions lab in the afternoon, and Pangur had to admit that as sad as he was not to be able to attend classes, he enjoyed himself a lot being taught by Severus and Patrick. When he asked Patrick about mind thinking to Goldie, the wizard shot him a stern look and explained, "You must not even try to do such a thing. Telepathy affords a lot of magic, and you could make yourself very ill just by the attempt." He remained thoughtful for an instant, before he added, "Maybe it is easier to use telepathy with a familiar. You can ask Professor Snape about it. He is said to be an expert of Legilimency and telepathy. However, you should get well before even speaking about it. Otherwise, he won't tell you anything."

Pangur agreed and resisted the urge to pester his godfather while they were brewing together in the afternoon. However, he could not keep his thoughts from Goldie, and when by Friday morning the cute little foal still had not arrived, he hesitantly asked Patrick, "Do you know when Goldie is going to arrive, sir?"

"We'll see," Patrick said diplomatically; however, just by the change in Patrick's expression he knew that something was not as it was supposed to be.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your many kind comments and messages, here and on facebook. My muse really appreciates them!_


	7. When at home we sit and find

**The Cat's Pyjamas**

**by Healer Pomfrey**

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
__The translation of the Pangur Ban poem is from an unknown author (chapter titles)._

_This chapter is un-betaed, and I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes._

_#+$  
_

_This story is dedicated to my wonderful friend and beta Mushcorn_

* * *

**7 - When at home we sit & find**

"Patrick?" Pangur asked carefully. "Is something with Goldie? She will come here, right?" '_Oh Merlin, please let everything be all right_,' he thought, impatiently looking at the adult.

Patrick slowly cleared his throat so as to win some time, before he replied, "Yes, eventually, she will arrive. The problem is that she refuses to fly. Tonight, they're going to bring the remaining three horses here; however, they're not certain if Goldie won't refuse to come again. Apparently, they have tried convincing her to come every night without success. In fact, I was wondering..."

"Oh Patrick, can we go and see her?" Pangur urgently interrupted the vet. "I'm sure that she'll be ready to come if I tell her so. She was the one who asked me to take her with me."

Patrick remained thoughtful for an instant and finally said, "I already thought about that, but since you weren't well enough, I decided to ask you if you wanted to come on Sunday."

"Oh yes," Pangur replied eagerly, "but can't we go tonight? Please, I can't wait to see Goldie and to have her here, and she has to fly in the evening anyway."

"Okay," Patrick agreed. "I must ask Poppy and your grandmother if you may go, but if they don't mind, we'll visit Goldie tonight. Now, will you come and assist checking on the cats?"

Pangur happily followed Patrick into the clinic. Besides the brewing of potions, caring for the animals in the clinic was his favourite activity, and he enjoyed being together with Patrick. '_It is as if he was my father_,' he thought, '_just like Severus, my godfather. My life has become really good. I'm the happiest boy in the world_.' During the next few hours, he changed several injured dogs' bandages, helped Patrick to check on the cats and dogs, on which the vet could not use magic for one or the other reason, or just calmed and held the animals, so that Patrick could give them shots or medicine. By the time they headed to the Atrium for dinner, he felt exhausted but also very happy, knowing that they had been able to help many sick animals. So far, Patrick had never allowed Pangur to accompany him to the part of the clinic, in which he kept the more dangerous animals, explaining that the boy had to learn several defence spells, before he could even think about meeting wild, magical animals like dragons.

猫のパジャマ

To Pangur's delight, Minerva and Poppy grudgingly allowed him to accompany Patrick, and right after dinner the same evening, Patrick apparated them to the hippovol stables. While he still greeted the Seals, Pangur took off towards the stable with the Candy Cane foals.

"Goldie," Pangur shouted happily as he stopped right in front of his familiar. "Why didn't you come? I was waiting for you," he asked in a soft voice, laying his arms around the foal's neck.

'I was waiting for you to come and fly me to your home,' Goldie replied telepathically, rubbing her nose against Pangur's face.

"But I can't fly," Pangur stammered, inwardly sighing in relief when Patrick and the farmer entered the stable.

"Only if she is willing to let us both ride on her. You may not fly alone, considering that you have never even sat on a hippovol," Patrick decided, and a short while later, Pangur sat in front of Patrick on Goldie's back.

Pangur held his breath and firmly kept his arms around Goldie's neck, feeling very much reassured by the fact that Patrick held him close with both arms, when the small Candy cane horse flapped her wings and slowly took into the air. '_Wow, this is too cool_,' he thought as they flew over Lexington. He could see many small lights in one place, which he assumed had to be the centre of the town, where they had been shopping the previous week.

'The vet is very nice. Is he your father?' Goldie suddenly asked telepathically. Before Pangur could think of a reply, the horse continued, sounding slightly reproachful, 'I thought you wouldn't come back to me. I've been waiting for you to contact me the whole time.'

"I'm so sorry Goldie. I badly wanted to speak with you, but I didn't know how to use telepathy," Pangur replied in a small voice, thinking, '_Maybe Goldie can help me learn how to think to her, but I can't ask her that in front of Patrick. I'll speak with her about it when I get a chance to be alone with her_.'

As if the horse had been able to read his thoughts, Goldie told him, 'You just have to imagine that you were speaking with me and direct your thoughts towards me. It's easy.'

'Hmm, do you understand me?' Pangur thought back; however, there was no reply from Goldie, before Patrick directed her into the direction of the new horse stables behind the clinic.

猫のパジャマ

During the weekend, Pangur spent much time with Goldie; however, to his great disappointment he was not allowed to ride on her before the horse riding classes, which were going to take place the following week.

'_Thank Merlin they didn't begin last week_,' Pangur thought on Monday morning, when he was finally allowed back to classes. He felt very annoyed to have nearly missed a whole week due to his own carelessness and resolved to pay more attention in the future. However, during the following months, it became clear that his problems with magic did not only result in his own mistakes. While he once a month used more magic than his body could handle, each time he had caught as much as a slight cold, his condition worsened immensely at the smallest amount of magic he cast.

Fortunately, horse riding on the hippovols did not afford any magic, and Pangur enjoyed himself very much riding on Goldie during their Horse riding classes. When each of the first years was able to firmly sit in the saddle, they were finally allowed to fly, and they also began to learn playing Hippolo.

Professor Hooch noticed soon that Pangur was very good at catching the Snitch and promised, "When we're going to set up the Hippolo tournament for the next school year, you will be our Seeker."

"Is every class going to have their own team?" Hermione asked, her voice laced with anxiousness. "Do we have to participate?"

Pangur inwardly chuckled when Professor Hooch rolled her eyes. "No Ms. Granger, each class will be paired with their partner class. The second years will have a team together with the ninth years, the third years with the eight years and so on. The first years will have to adjust to the school first, while the tenth years must learn for their NEWTs, so that they won't have a team. Therefore, four teams are going to participate in the Hippolo tournament. If everything goes well, we'll commence with Hoopitch the following year."

'_Thank Merlin Hippolo comes first_,' Pangur thought in relief. So far, he had been suspended from their broom riding class, because the adults feared that it would afford too much magic to fly on a broomstick, and Pangur was not very happy about it to say the least.

He felt also totally annoyed by the fact that by the end of his first school year he still had no clue how he could communicate with Goldie when they were not together.

"I shall teach you during the summer holidays," Severus promised one day when Pangur once again had to miss classes and instead helped in the Potions lab. "It's not easy though, and you have to be careful not to apply too much magic."

'_Yes, I know that_,' Pangur thought, inwardly rolling his eyes. '_Bad enough that I'm having these problems all the time, but does everyone have to make such a fuss?_'

Pangur was very sad when the school year ended. On the one hand, all the teachers had promised to utilize the holidays to teach him everything that he had missed during the last few months, but on the other hand, his friends were all going to return home for two months. He liked all of his classmates; however, Hermione, Eddie and Adrian were his best friends. The four of them were inseparable, and everyone used to call them "The Quartett".

猫のパジャマ

On the last day before the summer holidays, Pangur observed together with his friends how their parents arrived with several group Portkeys. Minerva and Medusa had invited everyone's parents to visit the school for the weekend. Seeing his classmates being pulled into hugs and then stand together with their parents, Pangur was just about to feel a little lonely, when Minerva came and pulled him into her arms.

"Don't worry, Pangur. Medusa will take my place today. I'm going to be here for you," she whispered, laying her arms around his back.

'_She is going to just be my granny instead of acting as the Headmistress today?_' Pangur thought, feeling very happy as he noticed that indeed Minerva remained at his side the whole weekend just like all the other parents were together with their children. The students showed their parents the school, made an excursion to Lexington and spent some time just hanging around with their friends and their parents, enjoying their free time. Only on Sunday morning, when all students were gathered on the grounds to watch a Hippolo match, Minerva had reserved some time for conversations with parents, who wanted to speak with her. However, Pangur was too happy to mind her absence during the match. Professor Hooch had set up two teams of students, whom she deemed good enough to become members of the respective Hippolo teams from the next school year onwards, and Pangur was very happy that he was allowed to play Seeker, especially since he could ride on Goldie.

It was a bright, warm summer day, and Pangur was fooled a few times, when he thought to have seen the Snitch only to realise that it had been something else twinkling in the sunshine. However, shortly after he noticed that Minerva came and sat next to Poppy in the teachers' seats, he managed to catch the Snitch and win the match for his team.

Too quickly for Pangur's liking, the weekend passed, and with mixed feelings did he return to his own room in Minerva's quarters on Sunday evening. However, he should not have much time to grieve about his friends' absence. When he got up in the morning, wondering if he had time to go and see Goldie before breakfast, he found a parchment on his desk. Curiously taking it into his hands, he realised that it was a time-table.

_Monday morning Charms (Medusa), afternoon in the Animal clinic  
__Tuesday morning Transfiguration (Minerva), afternoon in the Potions lab  
__Wednesday morning Telepathy (Severus), afternoon in the Animal clinic  
__Thursday morning Defence (Severus), afternoon in the Potions lab  
__Friday morning Healing (Poppy), afternoon in the Animal clinic_

"Pangur, this is only a suggestion," Minerva suddenly spoke up, causing the boy to jump up in surprise.

'_When did she come in?_' he wondered, having been so engrossed in his lecture that he had not heard anything. "No, this is great," he replied quickly, "but won't they mind teaching me during their holidays?"

"No Pangur," Minerva said, sighing. "It is not your fault that you missed so much during the school year or that you can't do much magic at once. You need special classes, where the teacher can fully concentrate on you. In the afternoon, you may assist Patrick or Severus, but only if you wish to do so and not the whole afternoon anyway." Seeing that Pangur listened with interest, she explained, "Poppy, Rolanda and I will take you flying."

"Oh right," Pangur suddenly remembered. "I promised Goldie to ask if I could fly her every day during the holidays."

"Whenever the weather allows it, you may do so, and we also want to teach you to ride on a broom, provided that you're interested. We'll see if you're able to spend enough magic without harming yourself."

"Of course I want to learn," Pangur replied eagerly. "I want to play Hoopitch together with everyone else next school year."

猫のパジャマ

When Minerva and Pangur walked to the Atrium a few minutes later, Pangur thought happily, '_This is going to be a very interesting summer, the best I ever had_.'

Only Severus was present in the Atrium. His hands wrapped around his favourite green mug that held an image of an ingredients spitting cauldron, he seemed completely engrossed in a newspaper that was spread out on the table in front of him.

"Everyone seems to deem sleeping in higher than enjoying the quiet of the holidays," Severus said dryly, quirking an eyebrow at Pangur. Seeing that the boy's eyes were fixed on his newspaper, he continued, "Although we do not intend to return to Britain any time soon, we deem it necessary to keep ourselves informed about the British magical world. Therefore, we choose to read the Daily Prophet."

"Anything interesting?" Minerva queried, stifling a yawn.

Pangur did not notice that Severus shot him a glance, before he pointed to the cover page. However, when he took his seat at the table, the main headline caught his eyes.

'_Failure of Blood Wards – Where is Harry Potter?_'

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments - You are wonderful readers!_


	8. Entertainment to our mind

******The Cat's Pyjamas**

******by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer, warnings and notes at the beginning of chapter 1!_

* * *

**8 - Entertainment to our mind.**

Before Pangur could even wonder what blood wards were, his eyes fell on the picture that was displayed underneath the headline. It showed his aunt and uncle. "Why?" he spoke up, trying to get a glimpse at the small letters of the text under the photo.

"Yesterday, remaining followers of the Dark Lord attacked the Dursleys," Severus explained, sighing.

"Pangur, this is not your fault," Minerva threw in quickly.

"Are they..." Pangur slowly trailed off, absolutely horrified at the thought. '_Of course it's my fault. They were attacked because they are related to me, and probably because I lived with them_.' "The Dark Lord is Voldemort, right?" he queried, trying to recall what Severus and Minerva had told him, when they had spoken about the matter last summer and also during the winter.

"Yes," Minerva replied in a soft voice. "The Dursleys did not have a chance."

"Did they..." Pangur cleared his throat to win time before asking the worst. "These people, were they looking for me?"

Minerva leaned over and pulled him into a firm hug, before she said, "Probably yes, sweetie, but it's the Dursleys' own fault. Had they treated you better, you would still be living with them, and the blood wards would have kept them safe."

"Exactly," Severus confirmed in an equally soft voice. "Professor Dumbledore placed strong wards around their house; however, they were only active as long as you and your aunt were living together. Minerva is completely right; do not even think, for one moment, that this was your fault." Turning to his colleague, he queried, "Minerva, is it correct to assume that no one except for Albus knows Pangur's whereabouts?"

Minerva nodded. "Only Albus knows that he is with me, no one else, unless he told anyone," she said, frowning in thought. "The news that I am the Headmistress here and who are my colleagues will surely have made its way to Hogwarts by now. Severus, do you think we need to take further precautions for Pangur's safety?"

The Potions Master slowly turned his mug around between his hands. "Yes. I believe that we should cast stronger wards around the school grounds. Let's do this in the afternoon."

HP

A few hours later, Pangur observed how all adults walked around the grounds casting simultaneous spells, while he absentmindedly took cat's temperatures and fed potions to rabbits. '_Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon are dead_,' he mused, '_and probably Dudley as well, and the worst is that it's all my fault_.'

猫のパジャマ

_At the same time at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry..._

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore looked up from his parchment when his office door opened and the Deputy Headmaster, Filius Flitwick, stepped into the room. "How nice of you to join me on this fine evening," he said tiredly, offering his colleague a lemon drop. "I trust that you read the main article in the Daily Prophet?" he queried, looking at the tiny wizard with expectance.

"Of course Albus," Flitwick replied eagerly, "the whole school is talking about nothing else than Harry Potter. Do you have any idea about little Harry's whereabouts?"

Dumbledore let out a long sigh. "Harry is with Minerva and Poppy; however, that's all I know."

"Does that have anything to do with Minerva's and Poppy's resignation last summer?" Flitwick asked with apparent interest.

"Yes," Dumbledore replied gravely. "If I am not mistaken, Minerva must be the Headmistress of the new wizarding school in Kentucky, the KFC, together with her sister, Medusa O'Leary. As far as I have heard, the school is open for younger students from the age of eight years onwards, so that I assume Harry must be a student there, at least from the next school year onwards. He is going to be eight this summer."

The smaller wizard's face lit up with satisfaction. "Oh then we won't have to worry about the little tyke. Minerva will surely be able to keep him safe."

Dumbledore absentmindedly popped a lemon drop into his mouth, before he explained, his voice laced with exasperation. "Filius, a few years ago, a prophecy was made, concerning Harry and Voldemort. According to the prophecy, Harry is the only one, who is able to defeat Voldemort, and the two of them won't be able to survive, whilst the other is alive. Do you comprehend my problem?"

Flitwick sighed, before he responded simply, "Albus, I don't believe in prophecies. You defeated Grindelwald; why should you not be able to conquer Voldemort, provided that he somehow manages to reappear?"

Dumbledore remained thoughtful for a few minutes, before he said, more to himself than to his colleague, "The problem is not only that the boy resides abroad but also that he is magically handicapped. I will have to think of something."

猫のパジャマ

On Wednesday morning, Pangur was very excited. '_Today, I'm finally going to learn telepathy_,' he thought as he hurriedly dressed to be on time for breakfast.

"What do you expect from telepathy?" Severus asked, quirking an eyebrow at the boy on the chair behind the desk in his office.

'_He sounds very stern_,' Pangur realised, resolving to not disappoint his godfather. "I'd like to be able to communicate with people, who are not with me," he replied, feeling uncertain if it would be wise to speak about Goldie.

"Very well," Severus acknowledged. "Do you have an idea how this might work?"

"No sir," Pangur replied quietly, looking at the professor in expectation.

"First of all, you need to clear your mind." Seeing that Pangur stared at him in obvious confusion, Severus explained, "Push all thoughts from your mind and only think of the matter you wish to tell someone. If only the relevant thought is present, you will use a communication bridge to transfer the content to the recipient."

"A communication bridge, sir?" Pangur asked carefully.

"It is up to you to choose the communication bridge," Severus explained. "You need a bridge in order to connect with the recipient. For example, I use a huge golden cauldron, which contains a lukewarm relaxation liquid. In the image that I bring to the front of my mind to use telepathy, I jump into the cauldron, where I meet with the recipient of the message, which I intent to relate."

Pangur remained thoughtful for a moment, trying to comprehend every detail of the professor's explanation. "Could I use Goldie?" he asked finally. "I could ride on her in order to speak with her?"

"That should work well," Severus commended him, adding, "and if you want to communicate with a person, the two of you could ride on Goldie together."

Pangur smiled happily, knowing that the words coming from the professor's lips had been a rare praise. However, when he began to practise, he soon became frustrated. Each of his attempts to tell Severus how grateful he was that the professor took the time to teach him remained fruitless.

After thirty minutes of practice, Severus told Pangur to stop, pointing out, "You don't want to make yourself sick by practising too much. Now, you will only practise when I am with you. Doing magic just by yourself would be very dangerous and could even kill you. The only thing that you may and even should try is to clear your mind. I expect you to be able to do so within a week."

"Yes sir," Pangur promised eagerly.

猫のパジャマ

One day, Severus was very impatient. "Now concentrate," he hissed, seemingly annoyed about having to remind the boy several times that morning.

"I'm sorry sir," Pangur apologized. Somehow, he was unable to focus on the thought that he wanted to transmit, and when Severus carefully penetrated his mind using Legilimency, he was met with a flood of various messy thoughts.

"Don't waste my time," Severus finally said. "We'll try again when you're ready to make an effort." With that he dismissed the boy.

'_Oh no, Severus is really angry at me_,' Pangur thought as he slowly walked back to his room. Somehow, he felt relieved that Minerva was absent, uncertain if he would be able to hide his disappointment about his telepathy lesson.

However, when he helped Patrick in the clinic later on, the vet noticed soon that Pangur was not his usual cheery self that afternoon. "Pangur, what's wrong?" he asked kindly, looking astutely at the boy. "Are you feeling unwell?"

All of a sudden, Pangur noticed that his head hurt a bit. "No, it's just that I didn't pay much attention in Telepathy earlier, and Professor Snape was very angry," he admitted in a small voice.

"I see," Patrick said calmly. "Severus was in a bad mood today, but I believe that it was not because of you, but because of something that he read in the Daily Prophet this morning. Don't worry, little one. I am sure you're doing fine."

猫のパジャマ

When Pangur woke up in the morning, not only his head hurt, but also his throat was very sore. '_I probably caught a cold_,' he thought, wondering if he should ask Poppy for a potion. However, he decided against it. '_She always makes such a fuss; she would surely keep me, and Severus would be even angrier if I missed my Defence lesson_.'

Unbeknownst of the concerned looks he received from all adults at the sight of his small breakfast of cornflakes, Pangur stood up quickly when the Potions master rose from his seat.

"Ready for Defence?" Severus inquired kindly, raising an eyebrow as he eyed Pangur.

"Yes sir," Pangur replied in a small voice, noticing that his voice was beginning to fail. '_Today, I must try to do my best. I can't disappoint Severus again_,' he thought on the way to the Defence classroom.

He could not believe his luck, when Severus motioned him to take his position and announced, "Today, we're going to practise the Expelliarmus spell once again; however, we will cast the spells absolutely soundlessly."

At first, the professor allowed him to cast the spell, before he attacked Pangur, and Pangur managed to dodge the spell. Then, however, Severus began to randomly cast the spell preferably just when Pangur was distracted right after casting his own silent 'Expelliarmus' at the professor.

Fortunately, Severus only cast rather weak spells at him that merely made him tumble to the floor instead of causing him to crash into the wall like it had happened to some of his classmates in class. Nevertheless, after casting the spell twice and falling to the floor twice, Pangur felt utterly miserable. He had the impression as if his surroundings were moving, although they weren't. He tried to ask Severus for a break, but his sore throat refused to let out as much as a whisper.

'Please stop for a moment, sir. I don't feel good,' he thought to the professor, in a desperate attempt to relay the message through telepathy, just before colourful stars began to appear in front of his eyes.

Before he knew what was happening, Severus scooped him up in his arms, and a cold hand found its way to his forehead.

"You are burning up," Severus said, looking concerned.

Pangur closed his eyes, which now hurt as well, and relaxed in his godfather's arms, feeling too miserable to care what was happening.

猫のパジャマ

"He only caught a cold," Poppy diagnosed a while later. "However, he completely depleted his magic."

'_But I only cast the Expelliarmus spell twice_,' Pangur thought, before he drifted off into a potions induced slumber.

From that day, Pangur had no problem whatsoever to use telepathy, he knew that he could not do the slightest bit of magic when he had caught as much as a cold, and the adults began to watch him like hawks.

猫のパジャマ

It was almost three years later, two weeks after Pangur's birthday or a day after the well-known birthday of famous Harry Potter, that the Daily Prophet reported something which shocked Minerva and Severus.

Pangur deciphered the main headlines on the front page:

'_Break-in at Gringotts - Secret Object Stolen from Vault 713'_

'_According to Hogwarts' Headmaster Dumbledore a Tragedy'_

"Do you believe that he placed the stone in Gringotts?" Minerva asked the Potions Master.

"Apparently yes," Severus replied slowly. "Knowing that everyone expects Harry Potter to come to Hogwarts this summer, he surely deemed Hogwarts not safe enough anymore."

"What does this mean?" Pangur asked hesitantly, curiously looking from Minerva to Severus.

"This probably means that the Dark Lord has gained immortality," Severus answered grimly, fervently searching the newspaper for further information.

_tbc..._

___A huge thanks to JB5391 for beta-ing. _Thank you all for your kind comments and sorry for the delay. I will try to update within a week this time, provided that there is still interest in this story. A very happy and healthy New Year to you all!


	9. Gainst the wall he sets his eye,

******The Cat's Pyjamas**

******by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer, warnings and notes at the beginning of chapter 1!_

* * *

**9 - 'Gainst the wall he sets his eye,**

During the following weeks, Pangur and the teachers eagerly followed the reports in the Daily Prophet. Minerva toyed with the thought of contacting Albus Dumbledore, but dismissed it in order to not unnecessarily endanger Pangur. Nothing spectacular was reported though, and due to the beginning of his fifth year at KFC, Pangur slowly began to forget about the matter.

On the day after Halloween, however, terrifying news from Hogwarts reached the Kentucky Foundation for Children.

"A troll is said to have attacked the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts," Patrick told Pangur, when they spent the afternoon in the clinic together.

"But how can a troll get into Hogwarts?" Pangur asked, uncertain if he should believe the story.

Patrick smirked. "I'm sorry Pangur; I didn't read the complete article. I only heard Minerva and Medusa talk about it. Why don't you visit your grandmother and look at the newspaper later on?"

Pangur nodded, resolving to go home for a while after dinner. '_I need to speak with Granny about the Transfiguration test anyway_,' he thought, sighing as he recalled that he was still not capable of properly casting the spell to transfigure a plush mouse into a squirrel. His brown mouse used to end up either in a different colour like green or pink, apparently depending on his mood, or as a marmalade cat.

'_Professor Quirrell was announced dead by Healers of St. Mungo's_,' the Daily Prophet reported. '_However, an hour after being fatally injured, Professors and students saw Professor Quirrell walk through the Hogwarts halls as if nothing had happened. According to Headmaster Dumbledore, the Hogwarts staff believe that Professor Quirrell already changed a lot during the last months. Rest assured that we will keep you updated on this unfolding mystery_.'

猫のパジャマ

It was a few days later, when Pangur was peacefully asleep at night, that he suddenly found himself in a dark stone room. A man, who was wearing a black hood, was kneeling on the floor in front of him.

"Master, I am delighted beyond word to see and serve you," the man said, bowing deeply in front of him. "We..."

"Very well Malfoy," Pangur heard himself interrupt the man. "Now we don't have time for small talk. Tell me where the Potter boy is. Why did he not come to Hogwarts in September?"

"I'm sorry Master, but I have no idea. I was surprised myself when Draco informed me..."

"Enough," Pangur hissed impatiently. "Find out about his whereabouts and come back to inform me tomorrow."

"Yes my Lord, I will try to gather some information," Malfoy replied, bowing again.

"Trying is not good enough," Pangur shouted angrily. He pointed his wand at Malfoy and muttered something, nodding contentedly when the man fell to the ground and began to moan.

Pangur's whole body erupted in pain. With relief did he register that the man was dismissed, and he woke up back in his dormitory.

Eddie and Adrian were helplessly standing next to his bed. "Pangur, are you all right?" Eddie asked, looking at Pangur in concern. "You were moaning terribly in your dream. That must have been a bad nightmare."

'_Was that a nightmare? But who were those people?_' Pangur wondered in confusion, before he slowly said, "Yes." '_It was strange. I couldn't only hear and see what was happening. I even felt everything, and it still hurts_,' he thought.

"I don't feel so well. I will go and speak with Professor Snape," he said decisively, slowly climbing out of his bed.

"Why Snape?" Eddie and Adrian asked simultaneously.

'_Because he might know the people, and he can look into my mind. They were talking about me_,' Pangur mused. Noticing his friends' expectant expressions, he replied, "He is our Head of Year, plus he might know what my dream means. What time is it?"

It was two o'clock in the morning, and to Pangur's relief, Severus was still working in his private lab. Noticing that the boy looked worse for the wear, the professor immediately put the potion that he was working on under a Stasis charm and motioned Pangur to follow him into the living room.

When they were both seated comfortably, Severus queried, "What happened Pangur?"

"I had a strange nightmare, sir," Pangur hesitantly explained. "Could you perhaps just enter my mind and watch it, please?"

猫のパジャマ

When the professor carefully pulled out of Pangur's mind, his expression was laced with concern. '_He is back_,' he thought, horrified, forcing himself to resist the urge to roll up his left sleeve and check the Dark Mark. "Pangur, are you in pain?" he enquired in a soft voice, giving the boy a concerned look.

"It hurts a bit," the boy admitted, sleepily. In fact, he had been about to fall asleep, when Severus spoke up. "But it's not bad," he added, yawning.

"Very well then," Severus said, smirking as he transfigured the sofa into a comfortable bed and motioned Pangur to lie down. "I will talk to my colleagues about the matter. Don't worry and just go back to sleep; we'll speak about everything tomorrow," he said soothingly. Noticing contentedly that Pangur drifted off to sleep as soon as his head touched the pillow, Severus pulled his wand and waved it over the boy. '_That's what I thought_,' he thought grimly, '_the Cruciatus curse, and the boy is affected just by being pulled into the scene through his scar_.' He headed into his lab and immediately began to brew a potion, of which he had hoped to never ever have to brew it again. It was almost seven o'clock in the morning, when he finally extinguished the flame under his cauldron. He returned into the living room and gently shook Pangur's shoulder.

"Pangur, I need you to take this potion," he said, holding out a small phial. "It will help you against the after-effects of the curse, which the Dark Lord cast at Lucius Malfoy last night." He gently helped the boy to sit up and pressed the phial against his lips, observing contentedly that the child gulped the strange-smelling liquid down without complaint. "If you feel well enough to attend classes, it's time to return to your dormitory and get ready for class," he said, quirking an eyebrow.

"Thank you very much sir. I'm fine now," Pangur replied, smiling and scurried out of the room.

'_I'll have to speak with Minerva, Poppy and Remus right after the last morning class_,' Severus resolved, '_maybe we should even discuss the matter with Medusa and Patrick_.'

However, just when Severus was teaching the fifth years, Pangur's class, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left arm that intensified by the minute.

猫のパジャマ

Pangur was sitting in his Potions class next to Hermione, glad that the morning classes were almost over. Although the potion had taken care of the tingling sensation and pain, which he had experienced during the night, he still felt somehow shaken and exhausted by the nightly events. '_Thank Merlin only Potions_,' he thought as he absentmindedly prepared his ingredients.

"Pangur, are you all right?" Hermione whispered, eyeing him in concern. "You don't look well."

"I'm fine," Pangur whispered back, discreetly casting a grateful look at the professor, only to notice that his godfather's face was scrunched in pain.

It only took an instant, before the Potions Master's features returned to his usual blank mask. However, Pangur had seen enough to know that something had to be wrong. When the class was over, he quickly informed Hermione that he had to speak with the professor and hesitantly stepped over to the teacher's table.

"Are you all right, sir?" he queried in a small voice, only for his godfather to hear.

"Of course," Severus replied sharply, quirking an eyebrow. "What about you?"

Pangur smiled. "I'm fine, sir. Thank you so much for helping me during the night."

His godfather returned the smile; however, Pangur noticed that it did not reach his eyes. _'Something is wrong_,' he realised; _'however, if he doesn't want to speak about it, I can't help him._' He quietly followed the professor to the Atrium and joined his friends, who were eagerly talking about the excursion to Lexington that was scheduled for the following day.

猫のパジャマ

Unbeknownst to Pangur, Severus called his colleagues together for an urgent staff meeting right after lunch, where he informed them about the fact that his dark mark had been flaring during the last hour. "He is calling his followers," he said, unconsciously rubbing his left arm.

"Severus, can you just ignore his call?" Poppy queried, casting him a concerned look.

"I can ignore it as long as I can somehow tolerate the pain," Severus replied, letting out a long sigh. "Maybe he will give up calling me, assuming that I am dead. However..." He slowly trailed off, resolving to keep his colleagues from worrying about him.

"Severus, it is completely up to you if you want to follow his call or ignore it," Minerva said firmly. "We'll support your decision in any case. Just inform us what we can do to help you."

Severus firmly shook his head. "No, Minerva, I will not follow his call. I wouldn't even be able to apparate over such a distance, and I don't intend to endanger Pangur in any way by giving out details about our school to the Dark Lord. It would be too dangerous, as the Dark Lord is a Master of Legilimency."

"Show me your arm," Poppy demanded, causing Severus to glance at Medusa and Patrick, before he hesitantly rolled up his left sleeve, showing his colleagues the Dark Mark that stood very dark against his pale skin. The snake within the mark was angrily moving its head.

"Severus," Remus suddenly spoke up. "These hissing sounds, do they come from the snake in the mark?"

"What hissing sounds?" Severus queried, quirking an eyebrow at the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

Remus smirked as he explained in his usual, patient voice, "Maybe it's only because of my werewolf instincts that I'm able to hear these sounds, but the snake indeed seems to be hissing. Do you, by chance, understand Parseltongue?"

Severus shook his head. "No, I am not capable of the snake language. Pangur does understand it though. Will you be able to put a memory of what it is saying into Minerva's Pensieve, so that Pangur can watch it and try to understand the snake's hissing?"

"Well, I don't know if Pangur will be able to hear the sounds, considering that none of you can hear them, but let's try tonight. The afternoon classes are going to commence in ten minutes," Remus replied, glancing at his wrist watch.

Severus agreed and quickly informed his colleagues about Pangur's vision. "I'm afraid that he'll have to watch more visions in the near future," he said, worriedly. "I can imagine that the Dark Lord will not be pleased to hear that no one knows about Harry Potter's whereabouts, and his punishment tonight might be worse than it was last night."

猫のパジャマ

After dinner, Severus motioned Pangur to accompany him into Minerva's office, where Remus Lupin was just placing his memory about Severus' arm into the Pensieve.

_'What did I do now?_' Pangur wondered but could not recall having done anything wrong during the day. By now he had almost forgotten about his vision, and he wanted to get a head start on his homework, knowing that the fifth and sixth years were going to spend the whole Saturday in Lexington and that he had to play Hoopitch on Sunday. However, as soon as he entered his grandmother's office, he knew from her expression that he had not been called in order to receive any kind of punishment. Casting questioning looks at Minerva, Poppy, Remus and Severus, he took the offered seat next to his grandmother.

"Pangur," Minerva was the first to speak up. "Severus needs your help."

"Minerva," the Potions Master interrupted his colleague, "let me tell the child everything." Seeing Minerva nod in understanding, he explained to a stunned Pangur how he had become first a follower of the Dark Lord, later a spy for the Light side. Finally, he showed him his left arm, where the Dark Mark still seemed very livid.

Pangur stared at the snake that seemed to be very upset about something.

=What's wrong?= he hissed, completely unaware of the fact that he was speaking Parseltongue.

=Ah, finally someone understands me,= the snake replied.

However, although Pangur could make out that the snake was replying, he was unable to hear a sound. '_It looks very unfriendly, but in order to help Severus, I should listen to what it wants_.' Looking questioningly at his godfather, he asked, "Can you somehow make its words louder?"

"Of course," Severus replied, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "There was no need for Lupin to put any memory into the Pensieve. I am sorry that I didn't think of this before." Pointing his wand at his left arm, he whispered, "Sonorus."

An instant later, the room was filled by hissing sounds, causing everyone to look at Pangur in expectation.

_tbc..._

_A huge thanks to the kind readers who commented and to Jessica for proof reading!_


	10. Full & fierce & sharp & sly

******The Cat's Pyjamas**

******by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer, warnings and notes at the beginning of chapter 1!_

* * *

**10 - Full & fierce & sharp & sly;**

"The Master of the Dark is calling you. Hurry up and rush to his side to serve him as he deserves," Pangur translated the snake's hissing.

"Tell the snake to leave that arm, as the owner of the arm is not a follower of the evil wizard anymore," Remus instructed him, causing everyone to look at the Defence professor with a combination of doubt and amazement.

Pangur complied and translated the reply for the snake, hissing as firmly as he could.

"How dare you ssspeak like that about the mossst powerful wizzzard in the world?" the snake replied, angrily moving its head around.

"He'sss not the most powerful wizzzard; he'sss a coward casting evil spellss at hiss followersss," Pangur replied, not even bothering to translate for the adults. "Now go away and take the ugly mark with you, you're not wanted on my godfather'sss arm. Hurry up or we're going to forcsse you out with magic" he hissed, glaring at the snake, while he put as much magic as he could into the wish for the ugly snake to leave Severus' arm forever.

The adults observed in disbelief how the Dark Mark completely vanished from Severus' arm an instant before Pangur collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

Poppy pointed her wand at the boy. "Enervate." Seeing Pangur stir, she quickly waved her wand over him, muttering to herself in apparent annoyance. "He has completely depleted his magic," she informed her colleagues.

Pangur sat up, feeling slightly confused, before he recalled what had happened, and hurriedly turned to Severus. "Is the snake gone?" he asked, urgently.

A small smile played on the Potions Master's face as he once again rolled his sleeve up and showed Pangur his white arm. "Yes, it is completely gone. Thank you very much for what you did for me, even if I have to scold you for using too much magic."

"It's okay; I'm fine," Pangur replied in a small voice, only now realising that he felt feverish and his head hurt badly.

"I believe that immediately," the Potions Master sneered, holding out his hand to Pangur. "Can you get up from the floor and walk to your dormitory?" he queried, looking at the boy with raised eyebrows.

"I think so," Pangur mumbled, gratefully accepting a phial from Poppy. _'That's much better_,' he thought as he took Severus' hand and allowed the older wizard to pull him up from the floor.

Severus led Pangur into the room, which he shared with Adrian and Eddie, and instructed him to lie down for a while. "I'll go and ask your friends to keep you company," he promised. "I don't know if the Dark Lord noticed what you just did, but at least when he receives the information that even Malfoy can't find you, he'll be very upset, and I don't wish you to be all on your own, when you might be pulled into another vision." Unobtrusively casting a charm on the boy that would alert him if Pangur was in any kind of distress, he strode through the room and entered the fifth and sixth years' common room to fetch Pangur's friends.

"Pangur, what happened?" Hermione asked as she hurried into the room, followed by Eddie and Adrian.

Pangur let out a long sigh. _'What am I supposed to tell them? Severus won't want anyone to know about it_,' he feverishly thought as he slowly brought himself into a sitting position. Finally, he decided to tell his best friends about Voldemort and about his vision.

"You're Harry Potter?" Hermione blurted out, looking at Pangur in disbelief.

Harry smiled. "That's my birth name," he admitted, hesitantly eying his friends.

"But you don't have the scar," Eddie spoke up, questioningly.

Harry smirked. "Granny and some of the professors placed a charm on me that hides the scar, but it's here." He slowly brought his right hand to his forehead, touching his scar, which still hurt badly from the earlier events. "Please don't tell anyone about this; I really don't want anyone to know about my birth name and also about my connection to Voldemort," he said quietly.

"Of course we'll keep your secret," Hermione promised quickly, and the two boys nodded their agreement.

They four fifth years kept talking about the matter until Pangur suddenly gripped his head and remained unresponsive.

"Eddie, please go and fetch Professor Snape," Hermione instructed her classmate, while she patted Pangur's arm, feverishly trying to divert his attention.

猫のパジャマ

Once again Pangur found himself in the large stone room, noticing immediately that Voldemort was in a very bad mood. "Malfoy," he heard himself hiss at the sole black figure that was bowing deeply in front of him. "Where is the boy?"

"I don't know, my Lord," Malfoy replied solemnly and fell on his knees. "I am sorry, my Lord."

"Sorry is not enough," Pangur hissed, casting a spell at the Death Eater, which fired back and made himself inwardly groan in pain together with the black hooded figure that was lying on the floor, moaning. "Stand up," he growled, feeling totally enraged as he gripped the man's left arm and forcefully pressed his right forefinger against the Dark Mark.

"Malfoy, what happened to my Potions Master?" he queried, observing how the first Death Eaters apparated into the room.

"My Lord," Malfoy replied thoughtfully. "I have no idea what happened to him. I haven't heard from him in years."

"Ah, really?" Pangur inquired. "I thought he was your boy's godfather?"

"Yes, my Lord, Severus Snape is Draco's godfather; nevertheless, I haven't heard or seen a sign of him. I assume that he has not survived brewing his bizarre concoctions."

"Pity," Pangur said evenly. "Malfoy, find me a new Potions Master, who is able to brew some adequate potions for my enemies."

Malfoy bowed deeply, before he replied. "I will try to find someone passable, although it will be difficult. Severus was by far the top of his field."

"I don't care," Pangur growled, before he spoke to the crowd that had assembled by now. "Who had the gall to mess up with my Mark? Speak up now and tell us what you did, or the consequences will be fatal." With that he waved his wand through the air, causing red sparkles to emerge from the tip of his wand that quickly travelled through the room. _'It almost felt as if some of my followers had succeeded in removing the Mark from his arm, but that's completely impossible_,' he thought and grimly let his eyes wander through the room, resolving to set an example.

No one spoke up, and Pangur cast an unforgivable spell at seven random followers, letting out a laugh at their discomfort, before he cancelled the spell and instructed the Death Eaters, "Find Harry Potter. The one who brings him to me alive will be greatly honoured and take Lucius' place at my side." With that he turned back to Malfoy. "Lucius, you should know by now that no one may ever say no to me," he hissed, pointing his wand at the blonde man. "Avada Kedavra."

'_Ouch_,' Pangur thought, right before the stone room vanished from his view and blissful unconsciousness engulfed him.

猫のパジャマ

By the time his mind turned back to awareness and he hesitantly opened his eyes, Hermione and his grandmother were sitting next to his bed talking animatedly. _'I'm in my own room in her quarters_,_'_ he realised in surprise. _'How did I come here?'_

He was pulled out of his thoughts, when Hermione suddenly looked at him and said, "I hope Pangur will wake up soon. I miss him badly."

"I am awake," Pangur informed her, smiling, before he frowned upon realising that neither Hermione nor Minerva seemed to hear him. He wanted to sit up and move his hands to touch his best friend; however, he could not move. _'Did Poppy cast a spell at me that prevents me from moving?'_ he wondered, feeling extremely annoyed with his situation. He tried several more times to address Hermione and his grandmother; however, the witches completely ignored his efforts.

Only when his godfather entered the room, late in the evening as Pangur assumed due to the fact that the room was scarcely lit by two torches, he had the idea to use telepathy.

'Severus, what happened?' he thought to the Potions Master, who looked at him in shock.

"Pangur, you're awake," he spoke up, sounding very relieved. "That's indeed good news. You have been in a coma since the day you took the Dark Mark off my arm. I suspect that you had a vision at that time?"

'Yes sir, he killed Malfoy right after instructing him to find a new Potions Master for him, becuase he assumes you're dead,' Pangur thought back, looking straight into the professor's eyes to relay the memory. _'Thank Merlin I can at least move my eyes,'_ he mused as he felt his godfather enter his mind.

A few minutes later, the older wizard cancelled the Legilimency spell, sighing as he took a seat on the edge of Pangur's bed. "You came into the woosh of a killing curse; that's why you slipped into the coma," he said, thoughtfully. "Pangur, I don't want you to use much Telepathy now, as you need your magic and your energy to completely come out of the coma, and I don't want you to worsen your condition. If my colleagues or I ask you something, just blink once for yes and twice for no; do you understand me?"

Pangur blinked once, and the teacher nodded contentedly. "Are you in pain?" he then queried, casting the boy a sharp look. Seeing that the boy blinked twice, implementing no, he nodded contentedly and explained, "You have been in a coma for almost two months. Everyone has been taking turns staying with you, hoping you'd wake up sooner in good company. Now let me fetch Poppy and your grandmother for you. They'll be very relieved to hear the good news that we're at least able to communicate now."

During the following weeks, Pangur noticed that he was barely ever alone. Always, at least one of the teachers or students was sitting next to his bed at all times, talking to him or reading aloud from various books. While Severus spoke to him about potions ingredients as well as about his newest research of a possible wolfscure potion, his grandmother read to him from magical children's stories. Every day after the last afternoon class, Hermione, Eddie and Adrian visited him, talking about the classes, which Pangur was missing. However, when Hermione came alone after dinner, she chose to read to him. _'Leave it to Hermione to read from our school books,'_ Pangur thought, inwardly smiling, although he appreciated her efforts and listened intensely, knowing that he was going to have a lot to catch up. When he became too tired to listen anymore, he simply closed his eyes and uttered a telepathic thanks to his best friend that made her close her book and content herself to quietly hold his hand until he drifted off to sleep.

One day, however, Pangur noticed that Hermione seemed very absentminded and uncharacteristically fidgeted on her seat, while she tried to keep her voice neutral as she read from their Transfiguration book.

'Hermione, what happened?' Pangur thought to the girl, who looked up, teary-eyed.

"I'm worried about Goldie," she whispered, sighing. "Goldie is missing you so much that she has begun to refuse to eat and drink. Every day after lunch, I went to keep her company for a while, but she won't even allow me to come near her, let alone anyone else. Patrick had to take her to the clinic and is now magically force-feeding her."

_'No!'_ Pangur thought, terrified, pushing as much magic as he could muster into the thought _'I need to wake up and rescue Goldie.'_ An instant later, he wearily sat up. "Mione, take me to her."

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind comments!_


	11. Gainst the wall of knowledge I

******The Cat's Pyjamas**

******by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer, warnings and notes at the beginning of chapter 1!_

* * *

**11 - 'Gainst the wall of knowledge I**

"Pangur," Hermione replied, staring at him in disbelief. "You're awake."

"Come on," Pangur said urgently. He slowly stood up and turned to the wardrobe to fetch his robes, which he hurriedly pulled over his pyjamas.

"Pangur, we need to..." Hermione protested, shocked. However, seeing that Pangur just left the room, she hurried behind him, gently steadying her friend's arm upon noticing that he swayed a little. "We're going to be in so much trouble," she insisted, trying to convince him to call one of the adults first.

"I don't care," Pangur replied. "I'd think to her, but I probably deleted my magic earlier, so I'll just have to go there. I don't want anything to happen to her."

To Pangur it seemed like an infinite time later that they finally reached the animal clinic. To his relief, Patrick was in the clinic and immediately came over when he heard them open the main door.

"Pangur," Patrick said as he eyed him, pleasantly surprised.

"Where is Goldie?" Pangur queried, heavily leaning onto Hermione's arm.

"Pangur," Patrick said sternly, reaching for Pangur's arm as he took in the boy's flushed face and exhausted expression. "Is my assumption correct that no one knows that you're here?"

"Yes sir. Pangur just only woke up from his coma, when I told him about Goldie. I'm sorry, sir," Hermione quickly informed the vet.

Patrick scooped Pangur up into his arms and carried him through the clinic, knowing that Goldie badly needed to see the boy. "Here you are," he said kindly as he released Pangur from his grip when they approached the horse.

"Goldie," Pangur said in a soft voice, gently petting the small horse's head. "I'm sorry that I couldn't come earlier, but I'm back now."

'I missed you so badly,' Goldie thought to him as she relaxed under his soft touch. For a few minutes, she communicated with Pangur, happily listening to the voice she had missed so much, before she finally began to slowly eat the food that Patrick had placed in front of her.

Pangur sighed in relief. "I'm sorry, sweetie, I need to go back now, but I promise I'll come to see you again as soon as I can."

"I'll take you back," Patrick offered and carried Pangur back to his room.

"Patrick, Mione," Pangur whispered, when the vet placed him on his bed and began to wave his wand over him, "please don't tell anyone that I went to see Goldie."

"We won't, as we don't want your grandmother to suffer a heart attack," Patrick reassured the boy, smirking. "However, if you set as much as a foot out of this bed, before your godparents or I tell you..."

"I won't," Pangur promised, feeling too exhausted and miserable to even think about doing anything. He gratefully emptied the phial that Patrick handed him and lay back, closing his eyes. _'Feels good_,' he thought, sensing Hermione's cool hand on his arm as he drifted off to sleep.

猫のパジャマ

After another day of staying in his own room, Pangur was allowed to return to his dormitory, even if he could not attend classes for the whole week. During the morning classes, he remained in the common room studying Hermione's notes in order to catch up as fast as possible. The afternoons he mostly spent in the clinic helping Patrick to care for the animals.

When Goldie was released from the clinic, Pangur led her back to the herd. 'You should play Hippolo more frequently,' Goldie thought to him. 'That way I'd see you more often.'

"I'll see what I can do," Pangur replied, gently petting the horse's head.

From that time onwards, he decided to spend more time with her and joined her every day between lunch and the beginning of the afternoon classes. Sometimes even Hermione accompanied him, when she could resist the urge to head to the library.

_'More Hippolo matches sound good,'_ Pangur mused. _'Maybe we could play against other schools or such.'_ In fact, he enjoyed Hippolo much more than Hoopitch, as it did not afford much magic. Whilst he often had to miss the Hoopitch matches because of his fragile condition, so far he had participated in every Hippolo match and had caught the Snitch to win every single one.

"Pangur, there aren't any other magical schools nearby," Patrick said thoughtfully and suggested, "We could fly to the Seals' farm on Saturday or Sunday if you have time. Maybe the Seals have an idea."

猫のパジャマ

The Seals immediately liked his idea, and Mr. Seal promised to set up his own Hippolo team. "I'm sure my customers will be happy to play against the students of the KFC. What about the teachers though?" he queried, glancing at Patrick. "Couldn't you have your own team? With three teams, we could hold a proper tournament every year that could either take place here or at the school," he suggested, causing Patrick to nod thoughtfully.

"Probably the school would be better, as it would be a great effort to have all students fly here. Your customers are more accustomed to fly over a distance. I will speak with my colleagues. You'll hear either from me or from Pangur," the vet promised.

猫のパジャマ

At first, Medusa was very sceptical because of the additional work load for Patrick if he had to prepare the horses for so many more matches and practices. However, Pangur readily offered to take over the task with just a little help from Patrick if necessary.

Finally, the teachers agreed to have their own team and decided to leave the complete organization of the tournament to Pangur.

"Are you certain that you have enough time besides your studies?" Minerva asked in concern. "I don't want you to overdo it."

"I won't," Pangur promised, giving his grandmother a reassuring smile. _'This is going to be so much fun,'_ he thought, happily.

猫のパジャマ

During the following months until the end of his fifth KFC year, Pangur was very busy catching up what he had missed during the time when he had been in the coma as well as organising the Hippolo tournament, which was going to take place during the next school year. Unfortunately, the more time passed, the more frequently he was pulled into visions.

It was usually on Saturday nights that Voldemort gathered his followers, and to Pangur's great annoyance, each time he asked if anyone had found Harry Potter, cursing the Death Eaters for their laziness and stupidity. _'Voldemort seems to become more and more agressive_,' he thought one night, when he gratefully gulped down the anti cruciatus potion, which his godfather handed him. "Today he cursed so many of them, and only just because they didn't find me," he told Severus in a small voice. "Thank you so much, sir, for coming to help me so quickly."

"No problem, Pangur," Severus replied gently. "As soon as you're pulled into a vision, the spell that I have cast on you alerts me to the fact. Unfortunately, I can't help you apart from giving you potions; however, I suggest that you try to occlude your mind, whenever you feel well enough to do a certain amount of magic. It might help to block the visions."

From that time onwards, Pangur tried to occlude his mind every Saturday night before going to bed. In fact, Occlumency was not difficult for him, as he had already learned to occlude his mind when Severus had taught him Telepathy a few years ago. The only problem was that he could not always afford putting a lot of magic into the spell, depending on his condition. However, he realised in relief that he was able to block his visions at least every second Saturday. Unfortunately, a few months later, Voldemort began to become more active, even during the week.

It was during the last week of the school year, just when the fifth years were having their theoretical Transfiguration test, that Pangur was unexpectedly pulled into a vision. He suddenly found himself at an unknown place. _'Is that Diagon Alley?_' he wondered, recalling that he had once visited the place together with his grandmother and godparents; however, he was not sure, and before he could follow the thought, Voldemort and a small group of Death Eaters entered one of the shops. To his surprise, he found himself in the role of a spectator this time and listened in shock, when Voldemort began to interrogate the wand maker.

"Oliviander, has Harry Potter come here to get his wand during the last year?" the evil wizard queried, standing in front of the shop owner in a threatening position.

"No sir," Oliviander replied firmly.

"Have you ever heard of his whereabouts?" Voldemort hissed, only waiting for the older wizard to deny, before he cast his favourite unforgivable spell and headed to the next shop.

Pangur unwillingly observed how Voldemort interrogated Madam Malkins and several other shopkeepers, cursing each of them upon realising that no one knew where to find Harry Potter. Finally, he gathered his Death Eaters around himself and hissed, "Apparently, Harry Potter is not in the magical world. From tomorrow onwards, we're going to attack the Muggles."

With that the scene vanished from Pangur's view, and he found himself back in the Transfiguration classroom. His grandmother was standing in front of him, and she and Hermione were observing him in apparent concern.

"Pangur, are you all right?" Hermione asked immediately.

However, before Pangur could even think of a reply, he felt his stomach revolt and got sick all over the table and his Transfiguration test. "Sorry," he mumbled, seeing that Minerva cleaned the mess with a flick of her wand. "He killed the wand maker and several other people in Diagon Alley," he whispered, causing his grandmother to look at him in shock. "I'm fine," Pangur added and tried to focus on the parchment on his desk.

"Are you sure that you're well enough to continue with the test?" Minerva inquired, worriedly.

"Yes," he reassured her, trying to occlude his mind against the pain in his scar as he continued to write, glad that Hermione had made Eddie, Adrian and him study a lot during the previous evening, so that the test was fairly easy for him.

_'I just hope he won't decide to attack the Muggles just during my practical Potions test tomorrow afternoon,'_ he mused, when he returned to the common room later the same day after showing his godfather the memory of his vision.

However, he realised soon that Voldemort usually made his attacks at night. During the rest of the week, he had to witness how the Death Eaters attacked Muggle and Squib families every night.

"Pangur," Severus spoke up, when Pangur assisted in the Potions lab on Saturday afternoon, "your grandmother and I believe that it might be better for you to spend at least the first weeks of the summer holidays in my guest quarters instead of your own room, because I might be able to use Legilimency and help you suppress the visions if I'm nearby. Would that be adequate for you?"

"Of course," Pangur said, smiling at his godfather. "Thank you so much for offering." His face darkened considerably as he said, "I just hope he won't do anything tomorrow during our Hippolo match."

Severus smirked. "Don't worry; I'm going to catch the Snitch then."

"Ha ha, I know you'd like that," Pangur replied, grinning, "but I won't do you the favour to lose against the teachers' team."

On Sunday morning, there was no cloud in the sky, and it was a hot summer day, when the KFC students' team and the teachers' team mounted their horses and took into the air for their first match, which Pangur had set up as a test, considering that the Hippolo tournament was going to commence right after the beginning of the new school year. 'I just have to catch the Snitch before Severus does,' Pangur thought to Goldie, feverishly letting his eyes wander around the park.

To his relief, Voldemort seemed to be asleep after attacking a Squib family in the early morning hours; however, when he took into the air again after the five-minute break, which all the candy cane horses needed to eat some sugar after flying for a certain time, he noticed that not only Goldie, but also the other horses behaved strangely. _'It's as if they were cursed,'_ he thought, worriedly.

_tbc..._

_A huge thanks to the kind readers, who fed my muse!_


	12. All my little wisdom try

******The Cat's Pyjamas**

******by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer, warnings and notes at the beginning of chapter 1!_

* * *

**1****2 - All my little wisdom try.**

'Goldie, what's wrong?' Pangur thought to his familiar, causing the horse to let out a small sigh.

'I don't know, but ever since I ate my portion of sugar earlier, I feel a bit dizzy, and I think the other horses have the same problem,' she finally admitted. 'Don't worry though; it's all right, Pangur. We can still fly.'

Pangur telepathically relented the message to Patrick, only then realising that Patrick would not be able to communicate with him. _'Where is he?'_ he wondered, looking around, before he recalled, _'No, I need to search for the Snitch. Patrick will decide what to do on his own.'_

An instant later, Patrick's voice could be heard all over the park. "I need to interrupt the match. All players please land on the ground immediately. The horses are having problems. After checking on them, we will decide if the match can be continued today."

_'Oh no,'_ Pangur thought, feeling very disappointed. While he instructed Goldie to slowly descend to the ground, he feverishly looked for the Snitch; however, the small ball remained invisible to the boy. _'At least Severus didn't catch it either,'_ he tried to console himself, as he stepped over to Patrick to see if he could assist with the horses' check-up.

Before he could reach the vet though, Fred and George Weasley, the sixth year twins, cornered him. "Pangur," they whispered, simultaneously, and Fred pressed something into Pangur's hand.

"We're sorry..."

"... It was meant to be a little joke..."

"We did not intend to hurt the horses..."

"... in any way," the twins told him in small voices.

Pangur looked at the item in his hand. It was a small bag with pieces of sugar. "Do these contain the antidote?" he asked sternly and, seeing the twins nod eagerly, hurried over to Patrick, showing him the sugar. "Someone played a prank on the horses, but at least they gave me the antidote," he explained quickly, determined to not give the twins away, even if he was not pleased about the prank. _'They said they're sorry, and if the antidote works, no one needs to know that it was them,'_ he mused, while he quickly fed each of the horses one piece of sugar.

Patrick busied himself checking on the horses that had finished their sugar and after a few minutes announced, "Everyone get ready. The match is going to be continued in two minutes."

"Are you feeling all right now?" Pangur asked Goldie, smiling in relief when the small horse replied positively.

This time, it only took the boy five minutes to spot the Snitch. Noticing that Severus was flying right behind him, observing him the whole time, Pangur decided to not speed up but merely telepathically pointed out to Goldie, where the Snitch was, and continued to fly in the same way as before. _'I hope we'll be able to fool Severus,'_ he mused, grinning broadly, when he managed to grab the struggling ball out of the air a minute later.

Goldie already knew what it meant, when Pangur caught the Snitch, and immediately descended to the ground, landing right next to Patrick, who was refereeing the match instead of Madam Hooch, who was playing for the teachers' team.

"The students win," Patrick announced, "360 - 210. Congratulations!"

猫のパジャマ

A few days later, an hour before the Leaving Feast at the end of the school year, the twins approached Pangur in the common room of the fifth and sixth years, holding out a small package to him.

"What's this?" Pangur queried in surprise, quirking an eyebrow.

The twins smirked. "Ah, it's just a little acknowledgement..." Fred began to reply, before George completed the explanation.

"... a small thank you for not giving us out to the teachers."

"If you ever play pranks on the horses again, I will tell though," Pangur said sternly. "That's no fun. If you have to prank anyone, prank the teachers or the older students."

The twins exchanged a look, while Pangur curiously opened the package. "Chocolate horses," he said, smiling. "Thank you so much. I really love these, although they're very fast to jump away if you don't quickly bite their head off." Seeing the twins grin, he asked as an afterthought, "Where did you get these though? Since our last Lexington trip was cancelled due to our detention with Professor Snape, we haven't been there in ages."

Fred and George glanced at each other, before George spoke up. "We can offer you a deal," he said, smirking.

"We'll show you our way to get to Lexington..."

"... if you introduce us to a house-elf, who'd be willing to put a prank potion into the teachers' drinks at dinner tonight."

Pangur remained thoughtful for an instant, before he agreed. "Very well then, do you know where the kitchen is?"

The twins cast him a surprised look, before they let out a questioning, "Nooo?"

"We've really explored the whole school so many times..."

"... and we've often wondered where the kitchen might be..."

"... but we've never managed to discover it."

Pangur grinned and glanced at his wrist watch. "Okay then, I'll show you. Take your phial or whatever contains your prank potion with you, and we'll ask the kitchen elves if they'll help us."

"Pangur, don't be late for dinner," Hermione reminded him, when he rose from his seat.

"I won't," Pangur promised, smiling at his friends, when Eddie asked if he could join them.

"I'd love to see the kitchen," Adrian agreed, causing Hermione to roll her eyes in apparent annoyance.

"If we were supposed to know where they are, we'd surely know it by now," she lectured the boys, shaking her head as she turned her eyes back to her book.

"Of course you can come," Pangur offered. "Hermione?"

In the end, Pangur led his three best friends and the twins through the connecting door from the west wing of the building into the south wing, in which the classrooms were situated. At the far end of the first floor, he stopped walking, pointing to the wall between the Charms classroom and the History of magic classroom. "The kitchen is situated right under the Atrium; however, the entrance is here," he informed his friends and walked through the wall into the kitchen.

An instant later, the twins stepped through the wall, followed by the others. Immediately, two house-elves came over to the group and ushered them to a nearby table. "Does Master Pangur and his friends wants some raspberry sorbet?" the elf asked eagerly, and everyone automatically nodded their heads in agreement.

When the children had finished their sorbet, the twins spoke with the house-elves, who readily agreed to add the potion to everyone's drinks at the Leaving Feast, after the twins reassured them that it was absolutely harmless. _'Maybe I should refrain from drinking anything at dinner,'_ Pangur mused, before the thought crossed his mind, _'If I'm the only one who is unharmed, everyone will assume that it was me who played the prank.'_

However, to his relief, the prank was really harmless and merely caused everyone to wear sparkling hair in neon colours for a few hours. _'It looks like fireworks,'_ he thought in amusement as he let his eyes wander over the other tables. _'Just the right prank for the Leaving Feast, although it's really sad that everyone is going to go home tomorrow.'_

猫のパジャマ

Before he could further follow the thought, he was suddenly pulled into a vision. He found himself in the stone room, where Voldemort was speaking to a dozen Death Eaters.

"Tomorrow we're going to separate the wheat from the chaff," Voldemort announced. "We're going to attack the Hogwarts Express. Since no one is able to find Harry Potter, I have to assume that he is amongst the students at Hogwarts, disguised by a potion and under a different name. Bellatrix, give us the details."

One of the Death Eaters bowed and replied, "Yes, my Lord. The Hogwarts Express will cross the bridge at three o'clock tomorrow afternoon. We're going to wait right behind the bridge. Crabbe and Goyle, you will take the driver."

Pangur listened in shock to Voldemort's instructions, slightly moaning in pain, when the evil wizard cast his usual spells at some of his followers, before he dismissed them with the warning, "I want that we'll succeed tomorrow, and I want to have the boy here within twenty hours."

With that Pangur was back in the Atrium, where his classmates were observing him in concern.

'Pangur, are you all right?' Severus thought to him, causing the boy to turn his eyes towards the professor, who was sitting a few metres away from him.

'No sir, I need to speak with you and my grandmother as soon as possible. He is going to attack the Hogwarts Express tomorrow,' he quickly thought back, noticing an expression of shock cross the teacher's face, before it turned back to its usual blank mask.

"Mr. McGonagall, please accompany me," Severus suddenly said as he rose from his seat and strode around the table.

"I'll see you later," Pangur mumbled to his friends and hurriedly followed the professor out of the Atrium, noticing that Minerva, Poppy, Rolanda and Remus Lupin were also leaving the feast.

"Severus, have you informed Medusa why we left?" Minerva enquired, shock clearly written in her face.

"Yes, Medusa and Patrick both know. They will join us in your office, as soon as the Feast is over," Severus replied, leading the small group to the Headmistress' office. On the way, he unobtrusively handed Pangur a small phial. "I suppose you need this?"

"Yes sir. Thank you very much," Pangur said as he returned the empty phial. "This really helps a lot."

Minerva motioned everyone to take a seat, before she addressed Pangur. "Pangur, please put your memory into my Pensieve. I'd like to watch the memory, before we decide what to do." She pointed to the Pensieve that was sitting on a side table, causing Pangur to let out a long sigh.

"I'll help you. Just think of the vision," Severus said kindly, pointing his wand at the boy's forehead to accept the white memory strand and transfer it into the Pensieve.

To Pangur's relief, Rolanda remained with him and pulled him into a conversation about Hippolo and the tournament that was going to take place from the next school year onwards, while the others watched his memory.

"I believe that we need to contact Dumbledore," Minerva finally said after leaving the Pensieve.

_tbc..._

_Thank you so much for your kind reviews, messages etc. I really appreciate your support!_


	13. So in peace our task we ply

******The Cat's Pyjamas**

******by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer, warnings and notes at the beginning of chapter 1!_

* * *

**13 - So in peace our task we ply**

"Minerva, are you sure that it is safe to establish a Floo connection to Hogwarts? Won't we endanger Pangur?" Poppy asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Severus, what shall we do?" Minerva queried, causing everyone to turn their eyes to the Potions Master.

Severus thoughtfully let his right hand run through his silky hair, before he replied, "I am not certain, but I believe that there is an encryption charm, which we should cast on the fireplace beforehand. Medusa will probably be aware of it; otherwise, we need to do some research first."

Everyone remained thoughtful, until Medusa and Patrick fortunately arrived a few minutes later.

Medusa smirked upon hearing Severus' concern. "In fact, I have placed the encryption charm on all fireplaces, before we opened the school five years ago. It is completely safe to contact any place in Britain from here. They won't know from where you are calling. Even the British Ministry of Magic won't be able to track the Floo call. Go ahead, Minerva."

After a glance at Pangur, Minerva grabbed some Floo powder and threw it into the fireplace, before she said firmly, "Headmaster's office, Hogwarts."

An instant later, Albus Dumbledore's voice could be heard. "Minerva! Is that you? Nice hair style you have today."

"Albus, I called to warn you," Minerva said crisply. "We have received the information that Voldemort is planning to attack the Hogwarts Express tomorrow afternoon."

"From which source did you get this information?" Dumbledore asked sharply.

Minerva let out a long sigh. "Make him swear a wizard's oath not to reveal what you tell him now," Severus threw in, causing Minerva to nod in determination.

"I will only give out my source if you swear a wizard's oath on your magic not to reveal this source to anyone," she said firmly.

"You're asking a lot," Dumbledore replied, sounding very upset. "Why would I know that you're not trying to fool me?"

"Albus!" Minerva said, angrily. "Why would I ever bother to call you if not for the safety of your students? You need to send the students home by other means, at least the muggleborns."

Pangur and the adults could hear the Headmaster of Hogwarts swear his oath, before Minerva explained about Pangur's visions.

"Are they authentic?" Dumbledore queried in apparent surprise.

"From all the information that we receive from the Daily Prophet, they are," Minerva confirmed. "You should know me better than to doubt my warning. I hope you have a plan how to get rid of Voldemort."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Ah, believe me, Minerva, I have a plan and a very good one at such."

Minerva let out a snort. "I'm glad to hear that. Good luck, Albus." With that she cancelled the connection.

"Well done, Minnie," Poppy said warmly. "Now it's up to him to make a decision. You have done what you could."

"Yes," Minerva replied, sighing. "Let's have some tea."

While everyone made themselves comfortable, Severus turned to Pangur. "Tomorrow morning I wish you to remain close to me or Poppy. The Dark Lord will be very upset and is surely going to punish his followers harshly, provided that Dumbledore listens to Minerva."

"All right," Pangur promised, smiling at his godparents.

猫のパジャマ

In the morning, Pangur woke up to hushed voices. "Pangur," he heard, while someone lightly shook his shoulder.

"Wake up, lazybones," another voice whispered, chuckling.

Pangur sleepily opened his eyes, glancing at the ceiling, where the time was displayed in huge letters, which he could read even without his glasses. "It's four o'clock. What the..." he mumbled and was just about to turn around to face the wall, when a whispered sing-song penetrated his mind.

"Don't go to sleep again, Pangur..."

"We still have to fulfil our part of the deal..."

"Come with us and we'll show you..."

"... what we promised you yesterday."

"Fred, George," Pangur groaned. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes, it's four in the morning..."

"... the best time for the early bird," the twins cheered, causing Pangur to quickly get up.

Throwing his robes over his pyjamas, he hurriedly followed the twins out of the dormitory. _'I'm going to miss them_,' he thought. _'Next year we'll be sixth years, and from then, we'll always be paired with younger classes.'_

Pangur was so wrapped in his thoughts that he did not realise where they were, before they found themselves near the entrance to the kitchen on the first floor. However, the twins did not lead him to the kitchen but chose a different part on the opposite side of the wall to walk through the wall. _'Where does that lead?'_ he wondered as he hesitantly stepped through the wall, immediately noticing that it led outside.

_'We're in the front garden,'_ he realised, amazed. "How come you know this way and I don't, although I've been living her for years?" he asked in confusion, causing the twins to smirk.

"It was only by chance..."

"... that we followed Professor O'Leary out here one night," they finally admitted, before they led Pangur out of the school territory. They walked several hundred metres away from the building in the direction of Lexington, and Pangur was just beginning to wonder where they were heading, when George suddenly pulled his wand and waved it through the air.

All of a sudden, an extremely large horse appeared out of nowhere. "Is that a horse?" Pangur blurted out, eyeing the thing in front of them in confusion.

"No," the twins replied, chuckling.

"It's the Derby Bus..."

"... the equivalent to the Knight Bus in Great Britain..."

"... if you know that."

Pangur shook his head, staring at the wheels, which seemed to be a combination of horses' hooves and wheels. "No... but this is awesome. Where does the bus go?" he asked, interestedly.

Suddenly, a man jumped down from the horse's head. "Good morning, gentlemen. I am Nick, the Driver. Where may I take you today?"

"Hmmm... is it worth going to Lexington..."

"... this early in the morning?" the twins queried, cheering at the driver.

"Ah no, the town's still asleep. How 'bout goin' to The Flooding Cliffs 'n St. Francisco?"

"The Flooding Cliffs?" the three students repeated, questioningly eyeing the bus driver.

Nick rolled his eyes. "Have you never heard of the wizarding night market at St. Francisco?"

"Sounds interesting," Pangur mused aloud.

"But how far is St. Francisco?"

"Will we be back in time?" the twins asked, sounding equally excited.

"It's far," Nick informed them, smirking. "However, since there aren't any other customers on the bus at this time, it'll take us about ten minutes."

"We need to be back in two hours," Pangur threw in, hesitantly.

"That's all right, lad. I'll pick you up in St. Francisco right on time to have you back here in two hours' time," Nick promised. While the bus took a huge jump, he explained, "The Flooding cliffs house a market once a year. The Muggles call the place the Golden Gate bridge, and once a year, it is closed for their traffic for a night. They believe that it is due to some street renovation. However, it's a great event, which no adult wizard should miss." He let his eyes wander over the children, before he added, "I suppose that you escaped from the school for a few hours. Well, I'm not going to give you out to the Headmistress, provided that you're back at The Flooding Cliff, when I come to collect you." With that the oversized horse bus stopped at what seemed to be the beginning of a huge bridge.

The three boys thanked Nick profusely, before they turned around and excitedly made their way over to where they could see a huge number of small tents lined up on both sides of the bridge.

"I wonder what they're selling in these," Pangur spoke up in surprise. "They're really small."

The twins chuckled. "These are magical tents," George finally said. "Come on, we'll show you. From the inside, they're much larger."

"Pangur, sometimes you sound as if you were muggleborn," Fred threw in, thoughtfully.

Pangur let out a long sigh. "In fact I grew up with Muggles, before my grandmother adopted me," he admitted in a barely audible voice. So there are a lot of things, which I don't know about the magical world."

"How come McGonagall let you grow up with Muggles?" the twins queried, simultaneously, looking at Pangur with a combination of sympathy and interest.

"Please keep this information to yourselves," Pangur replied and hesitantly told the twins about his real identity.

"Okay, we won't tell anyone…"

"… especially not our little sister…"

"… since she has been having a crush on you since she was a baby."

"Thanks for telling us the truth," the twins replied and ushered Pangur into a small tent with the inscription "Holler's Hoopitch Home".

With surprise Pangur realised that the twins had not promised too much, and the shop was about one hundred times as big as the tent seemed to be from the outside. '_This is amazing,' _he thought and thoroughly enjoyed his excursion together with the twins. There were shops selling tons of pumpkins for pumpkin juice as well as a wand maker, a shop for magical animals, an apothecary, a shop that sold all kinds of chocolate animals, and Pangur even saw a tent with the writing _'Seals' Candycane Foals and Horses'_.

_'Oh no,'_ he thought, terrified. _'What if we meet Mr. or Mrs. Seal? No one must know that we're here.'_ However, the boys were lucky and did not see any familiar face. Too soon, the two hours were over and they had to call the Derby Bus in order to be back at the KFC, before everyone else would wake up and miss them.

'_Pity that I didn't know this in advance,'_ Pangur mused when he trailed behind his friends to the Atrium for breakfast_. 'Otherwise I'd have taken some money with me and perhaps bought a Snitch or a book for Hermione,'_ he thought, resolving to take his best friends to The Flooding Cliff at the next opportunity.

猫のパジャマ

After the students had taken their Portkeys home for the summer holidays, leaving Pangur, the teachers and the house-elves behind, Pangur joined Severus in the Potions lab in order to spent the morning assisting his godfather. However, he had only just begun to prepare the first ingredient, when a sharp pain shot through his scar and his vision failed.

_tbc..._

_Thanks to the kind readers, who gave me their feedback in reviews, messages or on Facebook!_


	14. Pangur Ban my cat & I

******The Cat's Pyjamas**

******by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer, warnings and notes at the beginning of chapter 1!_

* * *

**14 - Pangur Ban my cat & I;**

Pangur looked around the stone room, where the Death Eaters of his inner circle were assembled in front of him.

"We have a traitor in our midst," he roared. "No one but the few of you knew about my plans to attack the Hogwarts Express. How come that the old coot knew about it and the train was full of Aurors?"

The Death Eaters immediately began to state their innocence, bowing and kissingok Voldemort's robes. However, the evil wizard's rage did not vanish easily. Only after casting spell over spell at his most confident followers did he put his wand away and dismissed the men.

"Pangur, are you all right?" Severus' voice brought him back to reality.

"Yes, I'm fine," the boy replied, unconsciously rubbing his achy forehead. "He was just very angry and cursed the Death Eaters. May I get the Anti Cruciatus potion please?"

Severus shot him a terrified look, knowing all too well how the after effects of Voldemort's favourite curse felt. "Of course," he said, already summoning a small phial from the shelf.

"A boy of his age should not need that potion every now and then," he said to Minerva an hour later, when everyone remaining at the school over the summer met in the Atrium for lunch.

"I hope Albus will be able to do something about Voldemort," Minerva replied, thoughtfully. "I will not allow Pangur to become involved in anything."

猫のパジャマ

During the following three years, Pangur often had to witness how Voldemort killed Muggle families, Muggle born students and even half-blood wizards and witches. To his great relief, it never happened during the Hippolo practice that took place on three evenings a week. However, at the beginning of his ninth school year at the Kentucky Foundation for Children, he was pulled into a vision just during the Hippolo match of the second and ninth years versus the fifth and sixth years. Fortunately, Goldie knew him so well that she realised after a few seconds that Pangur was unresponsive and instinctively did the right thing; she carefully descended to the ground, landing right next to the teachers, who had been watching the match. Before the fifth year Seeker was able to catch the Snitch, Madam Hooch stopped the match and after some discussion with Minerva and Severus announced that it would probably be continued after half an hour.

A vision, a potion and a hug for Goldie later, Pangur once again sat on his familiar and took into the air, where he managed to catch the Snitch twenty minutes after the re-start of the match. _'Thank Merlin I was lucky today,'_ he thought as he led Goldie away from the pitch, speaking to her in a soft voice.

"Pangur, according to your grandmother, this was your 100th match, and you have never lost even one. You're amazing," Hermione said, catching up with him from behind.

"Mione," Pangur replied in surprise, smiling. "Will you come with me and help me to care for Goldie? She was really awesome today."

"That's true," Hermione agreed, smiling as well. "In fact, I'd also like to speak with you about the counselling classes next week."

"Oh right," Pangur remembered. "Sorry, I didn't even think about it yet. Do you know what you want do after our tenth year?"

"I'd like to remain here as a teacher if that's somehow possible," Hermione replied, sighing. "All the teachers are still young and maybe won't need anyone else though."

Pangur chuckled. "My grandmother is not exactly young, and maybe she'd even prefer only being the Headmistress instead of fully teaching Transfiguration as well," he said, thoughtfully. "You'd make a brilliant teacher."

"What about you, Pangur?" Hermione asked, curiously, giving him a sharp look.

Pangur let out a long sigh. "Well, considering my problems with magic, I don't have so many options, at least not in the magical world. I think I'd like to become a vet."

"I believe that you're very good with animals," Hermione agreed. "Maybe you could still work together with Professor O'Leary, even after your graduation."

"That would be awesome," Pangur replied, smiling.

猫のパジャマ

In the following week, the Headmistress was leading the counselling talks with the ninth years. _'I hope Minerva will agree for me to remain here at the school and not suggest that I should better live in the Muggle world,'_ Pangur thought, worriedly, inwardly groaning upon realising that he was the last on his grandmother's list that was put up on the wall in the common room. In the evening before his own talk, Hermione, Eddie and Adrian had already finished their conversations with Minerva and were happily telling that the Headmistress had promised Hermione the position as Ancient Runes teacher and Adrian the Transfiguration post and had offered Eddie to work in the library, since due to the increasing number of students, the school urgently needed a librarian. _'They're all so lucky,'_ Pangur thought, feeling very sad as he imagined that his friends could all remain at KFC and he would have to seek a new life in the Muggle world just on his own.

_'They love you and won't leave you alone,'_ a small voice told him from the back of his head, while he tossed and turned around during the night, unable to sleep more than a few minutes, before he woke up by strange nightmares for the first time since Minerva had rescued him from the Dursleys'.

猫のパジャマ

Seeing Pangur sit in the Transfiguration class, looking extremely pale with dark rings under his eyes, Minerva instructed him to stay after the class. "Pangur, what's wrong? Are you ill?" she asked in concern, worriedly feeling his forehead for a fever.

"No, I'm fine," Pangur said in a small voice. "I just couldn't sleep last night." Realising that Minerva looked at him in expectation and knowing that he would not get away without some explanation, he hesitantly told his grandmother about his fears.

Minerva let out a long sigh, before she pulled him into a light hug and said, "Pangur, you're the last on my list, because I thought that in your case everything was already clear anyway." She glanced at her wrist watch. "I suggest that you go and take a nap, while I have to teach the third years. Afterwards, I'll wake you up and we can have lunch together in my office and speak about the matter. I'll excuse you from both your last morning class and lunch."

Pangur gratefully agreed and managed to sleep until lunchtime, feeling very much refreshed and reassured when he woke up. To his relief, Minerva immediately approved of his ideas. "Yes Pangur, I believe that a vet would be a wonderful profession for you," she said gently. "In fact, I have already spoken with my colleagues about the matter, and Patrick would like you to become his apprentice. Also Poppy and Severus told me that they'd be interested to have you as an assistant."

_'Thank Merlin,'_ Pangur thought, letting out a relieved sigh. _'Assisting all three of them will be enough work so I can remain here at KFC, and I really like Poppy, Severus and Patrick, and helping them is always fun.'_ "Yes, that would be great," he replied, suddenly getting aware of the fact that his grandmother was observing him in expectation.

Minerva and Pangur decided that he should spend the last two years of classes focussing on Healing and Potions classes. "You should also attend classes in the main subjects; however, save your magic for the classes that are more important for you," Minerva instructed him, when she dismissed him on time for the afternoon classes with the words "I'm proud of you, Pangur."

猫のパジャマ

Knowing that he and also his best friends would be able to remain at the school even after their tenth year, Pangur was very happy. He knew he would miss the twins, who were going to graduate in the summer; however, with the encouragement and some financial help from the Sears, with whom the whole Hippolo school team had become good friends, the twins planned to open a small joke shop in Lexington, and once a month, when Pangur's class was allowed to go to the town for the day, he intended to visited them.

Apart from his problems with magic, the only really unnerving aspect in his life were his visions that caused him at least two disturbed nights every week and prevented him from enjoying his weekends. Even if the after effects of the curses could be easily helped with potions, the scenes of the Muggle families being attacked by the Death Eaters did not easily leave his mind. _'I just hope Hermione's parents will be all right. Voldemort mustn't find out that she is a witch, especially not that she is my best friend,'_ he thought more than once and managed to convince Minerva and Hermione to invite the Grangers to the school over the winter holidays, so that Hermione would not have to travel home to Britain.

猫のパジャマ

It was a few weeks after Christmas, which Pangur enjoyed very much, especially with his best friend and her family spending the holidays at the school, that he managed to sleep through a Saturday night without being pulled into a vision. _'Thank Merlin,'_ he thought, when he woke up, feeling more refreshed than on any other Sunday morning since he could remember.

"Pangur, did you not have any visions recently?" Severus asked a week later, when Pangur was assisting in the potions lab on a Sunday afternoon.

"No," Pangur admitted, smiling. "Not since before the last weekend, and my scar doesn't hurt anymore like it often does when he's especially happy or angry. It feels as if the connection had been cut off, but that can't be true now, can it?"

Severus let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry, Pangur, but considering that he is said to have gained immortality, this is very unlikely. Maybe he is just recovering from the wizard's flu."

Pangur could not help chuckling at the thought, before he sighed as well, thinking, _'It would be so great if I didn't have to fear being pulled in visions every now and then. I would definitely be able to sleep and study better_.'

_tbc..._

_Thanks to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter - For you is the quick update!_


	15. In our arts we find our bliss,

******The Cat's Pyjamas**

******by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer, warnings and notes at the beginning of chapter 1!_

* * *

**15 - In our arts we find our bliss,**

However, even if Pangur did not have to observe any scene about the Death Eaters' activities during the following night, he still found himself unable to sleep well. By the time his alarm clock alerted him that it was time to get up, he knew that he was sick. '_Why did I just have to catch that cold today? I really don't want to miss classes_,' he thought, feeling totally annoyed. In fact, he had been looking forward to this day for a few weeks. It was not a normal Monday. Today was Valentine's Day. '_I'll just have to be careful not to do magic_,' he decided, resolving to pull through with the plan that he had so carefully elaborated during the last few days and that would not work if he was unable to attend his Potions class. _'I'm fifteen, and she's already sixteen, so it's really time to make use of this Valentine's day. Next year is already our last school year, and perhaps we'll be too busy with the preparations for the NEWTs to do anything else._'

"Good morning," he said quietly, when Hermione looked into the room to fetch the three boys for breakfast, trying to set up the cheeriest expression that he could muster in spite of the fact that his head, eyes and throat hurt badly.

"Oh no Pangur, are you ill?" Hermione asked and, not even bothering to wait for his denial, laid her slender, cold hand onto his forehead. "Let's go to see Madam Pomfrey," she said in determination. "You won't be able to do any magic like this, so you better not attend classes."

"No," Pangur said, miserably. "It's only a cold, and I'll..." He trailed off as his voice began to fail.

Hermione rolled her eyes and instructed Eddie and Adrian to fetch Poppy, before she turned back to Pangur. "If it's only a cold, she can give you a Pepperup potion, and you'll be all right."

"Yeah, but she won't let me attend classes," Pangur whispered, hastily glancing around the common room to make sure that they were not attracting any attention.

"If she insists that you stay here, I'm going to remain here together with you. We can study together," Hermione said soothingly, sighing in apparent relief when Poppy bustled into the room.

"Only a bad cold," Poppy confirmed and made him drink a Pepperup potion. "No classes today. Come to see me in my office before lunchtime."

'Please Professor, today is Valentine's Day. May Hermione stay here with me?' Pangur asked telepathically, completely forgetting that it afforded magic to mind think to others.

"Pangur, no magic at all," Poppy said sternly, casting him a glare, before she turned to Hermione. "Ms. Granger, would you mind staying with Mr. McGonagall to make sure that he refrains from doing magic?"

"I'd love to stay with Pangur," Hermione replied, smiling.

猫のパジャマ

The two ninth years spent the morning in front of the huge fireplace in the common room. Since Pangur still had a bad headache due to the magic he had accidentally cast earlier, they gave up studying fairly quickly and rather talked about their classes, the other students and the horses. Although Hermione still not really enjoyed flying, she had taken a liking to Goldie and the other cute candy cane horses.

Suddenly, Pangur had an idea. '_This is even better_,' he mused, feeling very happy at the thought.

"Pangur, are you feeling all right?" Hermione queried, eyeing him in concern.

"I'm fine," Pangur confirmed. "Only my head hurts."

"You're still a bit warm," Hermione said, once again feeling his forehead. "You must be more careful with your magic."

"I know," Pangur said, sighing, and leaned his achy head against the back of the sofa. Almost unconsciously he closed his eyes when Hermione began to gently bathe his face with a cold towel. "Feels good," he whispered, relaxing under his best friend's soft touch.

猫のパジャマ

When Hermione dragged Pangur to Poppy for the requested check-up before lunch, he managed to convince the professor to let him help Patrick in the clinic during the afternoon.

"I will have a word with Patrick beforehand though, knowing that you seem to be very irresponsible towards yourself when it comes to magic," Poppy said, looking at Pangur in exasperation.

'_Thank Merlin she agreed_,' he thought as he walked over the grounds together with Patrick. '_I really have to speak with Goldie. I hope she'll help me with this_.' He was brought back to reality when Patrick turned right towards the horse stables instead of his office as Pangur had expected.

"It's the candy cane that is expecting twin foals," Patrick explained, noticing the boy's confused expression. "I believe that it's going to happen sometime tonight. We have to closely monitor the babies to make sure that their wings are closed when they're born." He remained thoughtful for an instant, before he fetched a small monitor from one of the cupboards. "I'm going to connect the mother to this monitor, so that you'll be able to watch her the Muggle way. If you notice that anything changes, fetch me immediately in case any magic is necessary. Do I need to confiscate your wand?" he then added, giving the boy a stern look.

Inwardly sighing, Pangur shrugged and handed over his wand, knowing that the vet was nearby in case anything happened and that he would not need his wand in order to pull through with his plan. '_Thank Merlin I'm able to do wish magic and no one except for Minerva, Poppy and Hermione knows it_,' Pangur thought as he headed over to Goldie, his eyes trained on the monitor that he was supposed to observe. However, the soon to be born foals made no attempt to move, and Pangur spent the whole afternoon quietly talking with Goldie.

When Patrick came to fetch Pangur for dinner, he once again checked on the hippovol and announced, "I believe that it's only going to take another hour or two. Let's come back right after dinner."

"May I bring Hermione?" Pangur asked carefully. "She'd love to see how the foals are born."

"Yes, you may," Patrick replied, smiling at the excited boy, knowing that he was having a crush on his best friend.

猫のパジャマ

A few hours later, Pangur and Hermione were sitting next to the hippovols and eagerly watched how a small candy cane foal made its way into life.

"Wow, what a cutie," Hermione said in amazement as Patrick began to thoroughly cast spells at the mother and the new-born foal.

A small smile played on Pangur's lips as he began to stare at the mother horse in determination, unobtrusively casting a strong transfiguration spell at the still unborn foal. To his relief, Patrick was just feeding the mother horse a potion, and only Hermione noticed that he carefully leaned against the wall and his face paled visibly.

"Are you all right?" she asked in concern.

Before Pangur had to reply, the birth of the second foal began, and Patrick and the two students watched in disbelief how a foal was born, which did not look like a candy cane foal. It was white with many pink hearts all over its body.

"Aww, how cute," Hermione blurted out, staring at the new born.

'Hermione, don't say anything aloud now, but would you like to be my girlfriend?' Pangur mind thought to the girl, smiling happily, when she looked at him and eagerly nodded her head.

"I'd love to, Pangur."

Seeing the huge smile that spread on Pangur's face, Patrick asked sternly, "Pangur, was that your doing?"

"Yes sir," Pangur replied in a small voice. "I'm sorry, Patrick, but Hermione just agreed to become my girlfriend, and since it's Valentine's Day today, I thought..." He slowly trailed off, anxiously looking at the vet.

However, Patrick began to chuckle. "Congratulations, Pangur and Hermione. So do I understand it correctly that you want Hermione to have this foal?"

Pangur's eyes widened at the offer. "If that's possible?" he said in surprise.

"Aww, thank you so much," Hermione said in a soft voice, before she knelt down next to the foal and gently petted its head. "Maybe I'm going to get used to flying on a hippovol."

"You will," Pangur reassured her, smiling at the scene.

Patrick cast another spell at the foal, before he announced, "It is a girl. Very well then, Ms. Granger, tomorrow Pangur will show you how to care for your foal. For now please take your boyfriend back to his dormitory," he continued in a strict voice. "Pangur, I will come by and check on you later. I take it that you don't want Poppy to know that you once again ignored her instructions and cast magic?"

"Yes sir, I'm sorry sir, but you will surely understand that I just had to do this today?" Pangur apologized in a small voice, trying to clear his mind from the splitting headache.

"Yes, I understand, and I wish the two of you a happy Valentine's Day," Patrick replied, smiling as he observed how Hermione laid her arm around Pangur's back and led him out of the room.

猫のパジャマ

Back in Pangur's, Eddie's and Adrian's dormitory, which fortunately was empty at that time of the evening, Hermione and Pangur made themselves comfortable on Pangur's bed.

"I think I'm going to name her Valentine," Hermione suddenly said. "Thank you so much Pangur, for becoming my boyfriend and for the foal."

"Thank you for becoming my girlfriend," Pangur replied, before he leaned over and carefully pulled Hermione into a kiss. "Happy Valentine's Day Hermione," he said as he slowly pulled away.

Hermione smiled happily. "I love you Pangur. Happy Valentine's Day."

猫のパジャマ

It was a few weeks later that Severus told Pangur, "I know why you did not have any visions recently." He smirked as he handed the boy the newest edition of _The Daily Prophet_.

_tbc..._

_Thanks to the kind readers who reviewed... wish you a Happy Valentine's Day!_


	16. I have mine & he has his

******The Cat's Pyjamas**

******by Healer Pomfrey**

_Please refer to the disclaimer, warnings and notes at the beginning of chapter 1!_

* * *

**16 - I have mine & he has his.**

Pangur glanced at the Potions Master in surprise and motioned Hermione over, before he eagerly turned his eyes to the newspaper.

_'Lord Voldemort Explodes Like a Firework_' the headline of The Daily Prophet screamed.

_'Voldemort what?'_ Pangur thought in disbelief and continued to read the article.

_'On Saturday evening, shopkeepers and shoppers in Diagon Alley found themselves under attack by Death Eaters. However, the attack merely lasted five minutes, before the Death Eaters suddenly retreated. Apparently, Lord Voldemort himself was leading the attack on Diagon Alley, where two wizards were wounded and taken to St. Mungo's. As multiple eyewitnesses have reported, before hundreds of spectators in front of Gringotts, Lord Voldemort's body suddenly exploded like a firework and vanished into thin air. Read more at the bottom of this page.'_

Pangur let out a gasp and hurriedly let his eyes wander over the front page to read more.

_'In an interview, Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, states, "Since I assumed that Voldemort was going to try and probably succeed in stealing Nicholas Flamel's Philosopher's stone out of my secret vault in Gringotts several years ago, I manipulated the stone. I was aware of the fact that Voldemort had made a number of Horcruxes in the past, which means that he split his soul into several parts, probably seven. Therefore, I placed a charm on the stone that caused the single parts of his soul to slowly return to his body over the course of a few years. However, this was not to help Voldemort; instead it was developed to ensure that the whole system would be unstable and eventually cause Voldemort to explode. Of course I could not have imagined that it would happen when he was just on his way to attack Diagon Alley, but I am glad to have been able to contribute to a spectacle worthy of entertaining a huge audience." We have nothing to add apart from our whole-hearted gratitude to the professor for vanquishing an evil entity that has dragged the British magical world into a terrible civil war and we hope that the Ministry of Magic will honour him accordingly.'_

"Manipulating old coot," Severus mumbled, running a hand through his long, silky hair.

"At least he believed me at that time when I told him that this prophecy talk did not go beyond the mutterings of an alcoholic fraud desperate for a job," McGonagall said in her thick, Scottish accent, causing Pangur to smile, happily squeezing his girlfriend's hand.

**THE END**

_Thank you so much for your kind support throughout this story._

_Which of my other unfinished stories would you like me to finish next?_


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